The Seal of Merlin
by MagicalMessRemover
Summary: (Alternative 5th year) The Ministry knows Voldemort is back, so he goes into hiding. Free of this threat, Harry decides to spend more time with Ginny. Little does he know that this break is short-lived. Another dark wizard has Hogwarts in their scopes...
1. Convincing Fudge

**Harry Potter and the Seal of Merlin**

 **Chapter 1: Convincing Fudge**

"Good evening, minister! How was the meeting with Delacrois?"

Fudge ignored his assistant. Important work awaited him. There was no time for pleasantries. Once he was inside his office, he hung his coat on the hanger and let himself fall down on the nearest couch. His bowler hat came loose from the impact, rolled down his arm and fell down on the floor. It was upside down, just like his life in that moment.

The Triwizard Tournament had seemed like an excellent idea at the time. Relations with the French had been a bit strained at the time. What better way to strengthen the diplomatic bond than renewing an ancient and respected magical competition that promoted international cooperation?

How could Fudge know that it would turn out to be a disaster? How could he know Crouch's insane son would sabotage the entire thing to take revenge on his father?

The diplomatic fallout was unimaginable. The French ministry was colder than ever and the Russians had outright accused Cornelius of conspiring to murder a Durmstrang student. The entire international cooperation wing of the Ministry of Magic wing was taking additional shifts on a regular basis just to restore the foreign relations to the level they had been at a year ago.

"Minister! Sir?" his assistant's muffled voice sounded through the door.

Fudge let out an exasperated sigh.

"What is it, Weatherby?"

"It's Dumbledore, sir. He's here to meet you."

The Minister of Magic held his face in his hands. His schedule comprised entirely of meetings these days. About two thirds of them were with infuriated French dignitaries. The rest were with Dumbledore.

As if the Triwizard Tournament wasn't a big enough disaster already, the Hogwarts headmaster insisted that it was also a ploy for He-who-must-not-be-named to return, and a successful one too. Dumbledore kept wasting Fudge's time by trying to convince him of that every other day. The minister had had enough. It was obvious the entire thing was a fabrication of Potter, the fool hungry for more front pages in _"The Daily Prophet"_.

"Let him in." Cornelius replied, making no effort to disguise his exasperation. He then took a mental note to schedule a meeting with Umbridge for the following day. It was time that Hogwarts got a more stable leadership.

A bearded figure stood at the threshold of the room.

"Thank you, Percy." it said to Fudge's assistant.

"Have you come to tell me something of importance this time, Albus?" Fudge asked him.

"Or will you keep claiming nonsense?"

"There is only one thing I've come to tell you, Cornelius, and there is nothing of greater importance. Voldemort is back. We need to take measures."

Suddenly, the minister decided he was too tired to have any more of that. He jumped from the couch and turned to face Dumbledore, ready to order him to leave the room and never return. Curiosity stopped him.

Dumbledore was holding a weird object. A shallow stone chalice filled with either water or a transparent potion indistinguishable from it. Inside the liquid, glowing strands as thick as hairs were swirling in an irregular fashion.

"I see you are not familiar with pensieves, minister?"

Fudge shook his head.

"They are a tool for showing memories. There is one I want you to see. I regret that it has come to this. Reliving this memory was very painful for a person close to my heart. However, you have convinced me that you won't see reason otherwise. Please, submerge your face in the water."

Fudge regarded the Hogwarts headmaster with suspicion. After a brief moment of wondering, the minister decided that Dumbledore wasn't mad enough to try to poison him in his own office. He bent over the chalice and soon felt the soothing chill of the water on his face.

His office disappeared, replaced by an impenetrable darkness. He was falling, falling endlessly. The old coot had tried to kill him indeed! While the minister wondered how to proceed, the surroundings returned. However, he wasn't in his office anymore. He was in a graveyard at night, standing in front of Tom Riddle's grave.

* * *

Upon coming back to the real world, Cornelius Fudge fell on the carpet. He looked around frantically, expecting to find Death Eaters and He-who-must-not-be-named. He searched for Cedric Diggory's limp body lying on the ground and Harry Potter engaged in a duel with You-know-who. However, he only found Dumbledore extending a hand to him.

"I am sorry you had to go through this, Cornelius." the bespectacled wizard said after he had helped Fudge get up.

"It is a dreadful memory. Unfortunately, it is also a true one."

"He's... he's back. He was there. He killed that boy."

"I know. This is what I wanted you to know."

"We... we must..."

"Take measures." Dumbledore finished the sentence. Fudge nodded with gratitude.

"I agree. Luckily enough, it is still not late. If I remember correctly, I left you a proposition on how to tackle Lord Voldemort when we met last Tuesday. I believe it is the stack you've put under the front left leg of your chair over there. Give it a read and think of any suggestions you may have. I will return tomorrow to discuss them with you. For now, I leave you. Rest well, Cornelius."

Dumbledore was already at the door when the minister spoke again.

"Pettigrew was there too. I saw him. How can that be?"

The headmaster turned around.

"Oh yes, I was planning to discuss that tomorrow. We had it wrong, Cornelius. Sirius Black didn't betray the Potters. Pettigrew did. When Black went to confront him, Pettigrew set him up by killing the muggles and running away in his animagus form. A rat."

"But then Black is innocent!"

"Indeed. However, this is a problem easily fixed by a press conference. When you hold it is up to you, Cornelius, but I am sure Harry would appreciate it if it were sooner. The smear has been on his godfather's name for too long."

Fudge's mind was overloaded. All he could manage in reply was a nod. Dumbledore wished him a good evening and left. The dazed minister found his way back to the couch. The problems that he had faced until a few minutes ago now seemed inconsequential. What did foreign relations matter when You-Know-Who was on the loose?

"Come here, Weatherby!"

His assistant arrived so fast that one could have thought he had apparated.

"Call Moody up here. Tell him to be ready to take a night shift."

"Of course, minister. Will you be going home after meeting with him? Shall I call your wife to tell her when you'll be home?"

Fudge shook his head.

"Tell her I'll be taking a night shift too."

* * *

 **Disclaimer:** Harry Potter and all other characters from the wizarding world belong to J.K. Rowling. I'm just playing around in her playground :).

* * *

 **A/N:** Hello everyone, I hope you like the story so far! Any constructive criticism is welcome and a review is always nice!

To my old readers: you may note that I updated Chapter 1. I'm planning to do the same with Chapters 2,3 and maybe 5. However, be aware that this does not mean I'm changing the story. I'm keeping the storyline more or less the same, no retcons. I've just progressed with my writing style since I started the story and now I'm updating my first chapters with this new style.

Because I don't want to spam your update notifications with stuff like that, I'll always add a newer version of an older chapter together with the upload of a new chapter. This way, an update alarm will always equal a new chapter.


	2. Harry's Holiday

**Chapter 2: Harry's Holiday**

It was what would probably be the hottest day on Privet Drive this summer. The weather forecast reported record-high temperatures all over Surrey, which resulted in a drought. The municipality had enforced a water regime, so nobody on Privet Drive was able to water their gardens, one of the favourite pastimes there. Fleeing from the heat, everybody had shut themselves up in their houses, shutting the blinders and turning the air conditioning to the max.

One inhabitant of Number 4, however, welcomed the heat with all his heart. For Harry James Potter, it provided another layer of protection between him and his uncle, as no matter how angry Vernon was, he would never leave the cool interior of the house just to scold Harry.

Of course, even if he did, he'd have to find him first, Harry thought, as he congratulated himself on this excellent hiding spot. He had hidden behind Aunt Petunia's prised rose bushes and just beneath the kitchen window. When the window was open, like now, from his spot Harry could hear the muggle news. The boy listened to them every day, hoping to hear something about Voldemort's return. He knew there was a very slim chance of that, but still, his godfather had shown up on the news, and Voldemort was infinitely more dangerous to wizards and muggles alike.

The reason why Harry was so desperate was that he was practically starved of any information about the Wizarding World ever since the end of the last school year. His friends, Ron and Hermione, were as oblivious as he was, and Professor Dumbledore never returned any of his letters. Well, up until the previous day at least.

While Harry still had no idea what Voldemort was up to, at least the Hogwarts Headmaster had shown up to explain about Fudge and his disbelief. The 15-year boy had a hard time believing anyone would be as stupid as to so stubbornly ignore the return of Dark Lord, but still had provided Dumbledore with a copy of his memory of the graveyard.

However, it was exactly Dumbledore's visit that had brought about uncle Vernon's latest fit of rage. While Harry had informed his aunt and uncle that his headmaster would be coming after receiving a letter in the morning , he couldn't have known the professor would Apparate right in the middle of the living room.

Of course, both Vernon and Petunia had been stricken with shock and fear at his arrival, but once the wizard had left, those two had quickly become furious with Harry, thinking he had purposefully omitted telling them that his professor "would pull one of his freaky carnival tricks" right in the middle of the living room. His uncle had sworn he'd lock him in the cupboard under the stairs, so Harry had had to play the Godfather card again. Still, that didn't save him from the Dursleys' anger.

The boy turned his mind to Sirius. He didn't know what his godfather was up to either. Last time he'd written to Harry, he was still hiding out in that cave near Hogsmeade.

As Harry wondered whether Padfoot had remained there for the summer, he heard the unmistakable loud pop of an Apparition. Startled, he jumped up, only to slam his head into the window sill.

"BOY!" uncle Vernon's shrill yell reached his ears. Harry frowned. Great, he had just lost his perfect hideout. Ignoring his uncle's thundering steps that could be heard from the inside, he looked around the street, looking for the source of the pop.

A man with long, black hair was standing in the middle of the street with a wide grin on his face. His muggle clothing didn't confuse Harry: it was Sirius Black.

As his godfather sauntered over to him, joy and fear clashed in Harry's mind. What was Sirius doing here, out in the open like that? Harry sure was happy to see him, but the boy just couldn't shake the horrible feeling Ministry officials would show up any moment now and drag Sirius back to Azkaban, taking Harry's godfather from him once again.

"Sirius! What are you doing? Get out of here, now!" Harry cried desperately, knowing his house was probably under constant Ministry surveillance.

"Well now, that isn't a proper greeting for your favourite godfather, is it?" Sirius replied smugly.

"You're bonkers!" Harry told him as he neared.

"The Ministry is still hunting you, you're serving yourself to them on a silver platter! Run while they haven't shown up!"

"Oh, that." Sirius stopped in his tracks and rubbed his chin, as if contemplating, while Harry was looking at him with increasing alarm and constantly checking the two ends of the street, dreading the Aurors' imminent arrival.

After a moment Sirius left his false pondering state, smiled again and started looking for something in the pockets of his coat.

"Don't worry about that, Harry, me and the Ministry have settled that already." he replied, handing his godson a newspaper cutout.

Befuddled beyond measure, Harry took the cutout from Sirius and unfolded it. It was from the "Daily Prophet", though Harry had never expected to see something like it in that paper. Hardly believing his eyes, he read:

 ** _BLACK- INNOCENT!_**

 _At a public hearing today Minister Fudge unveiled some startling new information on the Sirius Black case. The press was shocked to hear that Black had in fact been innocent all along. According to the Ministry, the Muggle massacre had a different criminal mind behind it- the one of Peter Pettigrew, who up until now was believed to be a victim of Black. According to the Minister, Pettigrew is dangerous and on the loose. Albus Dumbledore added that the former was also an unregistered Animagus who could transform into a rat. The public is warned to be extra careful at the sight of a rodent…_

Harry silently dropped the cutout, his sight blurred from the tears starting to fill his eyes. Without another word, he rushed to his godfather and embraced him with all his strength, nearly driving all the air from his lungs. Words couldn't describe what the boy was feeling at the moment.

"Just off the press. Thought you should know." Sirius spoke silently.

But before Harry could reply, the slam of a door was heard along with an angry yell:

"COME RIGHT HERE YOU… " Vernon abruptly stopped his upcoming tantrum as he saw the stranger next to Harry. At that moment, Harry released Sirius and turned around, while his godfather slowly and menacingly strolled over to his uncle.

"Hello, my name is Sirius Black. I'm Harry's godfather, I'm sure he's told you of me." the wizard introduced himself, with an obvious sarcastic undertone. As he extended his hand towards Vernon, the muggle stepped back, pale as a banshee and his eyes the size of saucers.

Harry fought hard to suppress a snigger. Not that long ago, he had told Sirius how the Dursleys still knew him as the dangerous mass murderer and that threatening them with a visit from his godfather was what kept them in check. Now the wizard was using that reputation to his advantage.

"Oh, nice! Which model is it? Didn't know you were quidditch fans too!" Sirius smirked, pointing at the broom that Vernon Dursley held, which he had apparently picked up as a weapon against the sudden noise he had heard. Just for a moment, Harry's uncle flared red with rage at being associated to the "freak sport", before he remembered who was standing before him and returned to his pale state. Harry could barely suppress his laugh now, his uncle reminded him of those sea squids that changed their colour at whim.

"I was wondering something. What would you say about Harry going on a holiday with me?" Sirius asked. As he heard that, the boy perked up. Going on a holiday with Sirius? That would be undoubtedly the best summer holiday he had ever had and would ever have. Just the thought about spending one and a half months away from the Dursleys and together with Sirius was like a dream too good to be true.

Vernon Dursley had apparently lost his ability to speak. All he could do in response was mutter some sound incomprehensible for human ears.

"I'll take that as a yes. Harry, go and get your stuff." Sirius proclaimed after ten seconds of silence. The boy needed no further prompting. Grinning madly, he rushed past his uncle with the speed of a Firebolt and headed straight for his bedroom. After pulling all his belongings from under the loose floorboard, he quickly stuffed them in his trunk, along with his near-empty bag of Berty Bott's Every Flavour Beans which Ron had sent him last week. He took the wand from his drawer and slid it into his jeans pocket before grabbing his trunk and his Firebolt in one hand and Hedwig's cage with her inside in the other and speeding past the door and down the stairs. The smile never left his face all the time.

Quite an amusing scene was waiting for him downstairs. Apparently, Sirius had walked over to the kitchen and was currently pouring himself some orange juice. Meanwhile, all the Dursleys had gathered in the opposite corner of the room, all pale like uncle Vernon. With her bony features and frightened look, Aunt Petunia easily looked more frightening than half the magical creatures Harry had seen in his life.

When Sirius spotted his godson, he quickly downed the juice and wiped his mouth with one of Petunia's cleanest towels, much to her chagrin, before smiling at Harry.

"I see you're all set. Let's go, Harry! See you soon!" he told the Dursleys, at which Dudley let out a small whimper. Now Harry couldn't hold it in anymore and his laugh filled the kitchen. Big D, the terror of the neighbourhood, whimpering like a puppy! Harry just had to tell Ron about this as soon as possible.

"Where off to now?" Sirius asked him as they got out from the house back under the scorching heat.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked him, confused

"I thought we were going on a holiday?"

"Yes, of course. But where do you want to go?"

Harry now grinned so much that his jaw hurt. Ron didn't need to wait until September to hear all about this amazing day. He'd find out right away.

" Do you know the village of Ottery Saint Catchpole?" Harry asked, as the sun set behind the horizon and put an end to this day full of pleasant surprises.

 **A/N:** Hey everyone, I wanted to ask you something about the pace of the story. What I'm aiming for is writing a story at least half the volume of 'The Order of the Pheonix", I've got a pretty convoluted plot in mind. However, I still want to do it the way J.K. Rowling did it, and by that I mean including several initial chapters with little to no action showing the interactions between the characters and hinting at the upcoming events. I wanted to ask, is that OK? I'm new to Fanfiction, so I don't know if a slower pace is acceptable around here.


	3. Padfoot at the Burrow

**A/N** : Sorry, forgot about the disclaimer, should have put it back in chapter 1.

Anyways, I claim no rights whatsoever to Harry Potter and the wizarding world, they are all creative property of J.K. Rowling. All characters belong to her. I'm just playing around on her playground :).

 **Chapter 3: Padfoot at the Burrow**

Their trip to the village was surprisingly short. Harry had suggested getting on the Knight Bus to get to the Leaky Cauldron, where they could use the floo. However, Sirius had told him people could tag along on an Apparition while somebody else did the spell, the so-called Side-along Apparition. Therefore, merely after 5 minutes, which was all it took the two to get to a muggle shop and get a map with Ottery Saint Catchpole on it, they were ready to go. After finding an empty park, they hid behind a bush, so as not to be seen, then Sirius grabbed Harry's hand and they Apparated.

Harry had never wondered what it felt like to Apparate, but he had noticed something weird about it. Last year, as he was staying with the Weasleys before the World Quidditch Cup, he had noticed something odd about Percy. Just after Apparating, he often looked on the brink of losing his last meal. Harry had never made the connection.

Until now.

As Harry and Sirius moved through nothingness, the boy felt a terrible compression. It was like steel fists pressing him from all directions, punching his ears inside his head and his eyes deep down their sockets…

Suddenly, the compression ceased and Harry felt himself falling down on wet grass. He desperately gasped for air, breathing in the chillness of the night. A nasty queasiness overtook him and he was glad he had eaten nothing for lunch.

Sirius stood above him and extended his arm, smiling sympathetically at the boy's plight.

"It packs a nasty punch the first few times. " he said as Harry grabbed his hand and stood up.

"I nearly retched all over my examiner when I passed my test."

"When did you pass your test, Sirius?" Harry asked as he looked around them. They had Apparated on the outskirts of Ottery Saint Catchpole. Harry soon realised they had appeared on the correct side, so they wouldn't have to go around the village. Discerning the road to the Burrow in the dusk, he pointed it to Sirius and headed that way. His godfather caught up with him in a moment.

"All sixth-years can start taking lessons from the spring term onwards during the weekends. Tests are usually held during the summer, though there is also a winter session if you can't manage it the first time, along with extra lessons during the first term of the seventh year."

"I aced it the first time, of course." he announced, earning himself an "I-know-you-didn't" look from Harry. Sirius faked outrage and gave Harry a light punch in the shoulder.

"Okay, alright, I may have splinched my moustache, but no one ever noticed! The examiner didn't have my picture, you see. Anyway, I still did loads better than your old man, Harry! James splinched his head at the exam! Ha! The examiner needed a Draught of Peace afterwards. And James was the "Headless Marauder" until next Christmas when he passed the test too. " the wizard laughed as he recalled this.

Although it sounded a bit gruesome, Harry couldn't help but grin at Sirius's story. Imagining himself Apparating somewhere without his head and scaring someone out of their mind sounded like a prank worthy of George and Fred Weasley.

Harry stopped dead in his tracks.

"What's wrong, Harry? Forgot the way?" Sirius asked.

"No." Harry smiled widely at the thought he'd just had. Sirius was just about to meet his spiritual successors. Over the summer, Sirius had included stories about himself and Harry's dad in his letters, hoping to let Harry know what his dad had been like. From what the boy had read so far, Sirius and James had been something like the original Fred and George, only with Lupin and Pettigrew to assist them with their every prank.

"I just thought about something… see, Ron has two brothers, Fred and George, who are just like you and dad, always driving everyone at Hogwarts crazy with their pranks. I got the Marauder's Map from them."

Sirius smiled broadly.

"Well, I can't wait to meet them. I'm eager to see if the next generation has learned any new tricks."

Harry's faced mirrored his godfather's as the two walked in the darkness. This encounter would go down in the ages. He only hoped Mrs. Weasley would be strong enough to endure.

"So, do you know how the Minister came to his senses, Sirius?" Harry asked, recalling his amazement at the article in the " _Prophet_ " earlier that day.

"In fact, I have you to thank about all that, Harry." his godfather replied, as he squeezed the boy's shoulder.

"Dumbledore showed Fudge the memory you gave him yesterday, Harry. I don't know exactly what it was, but it apparently had Wormtail in it and the Minister recognised him. After the public statement Dumbledore contacted me and told me I was a free man. " the wizard explained, looking at his godson with great gratitude.

Harry was happy to hear that his memory had helped prove Sirius innocent, but this story brought his attention back to what had happened in the graveyard. For a moment, he could again hear Voldemort's shrill voice casting curses at him, Pettigrew's whimpers, the Death Eathers' mocks and laughs. He shuddered as he remembered the green light from Voldemort's wand, flying straight at him…

"Harry? Harry! Are you OK?" the concern in his godfather's voice brought Harry out of his memories.

"I am." he turned towards the worried Sirius.

"It's just… it wasn't a very happy memory."

Sirius frowned as it dawned on him.

"It was the graveyard memory, wasn't it?" to which the boy nodded silently. He had told Sirius all about what had happened at the end of the Triwizard Tournament in the first letter after leaving Hogwarts for the summer, so the wizard knew which memory his godson was talking about.

He stopped Harry, turned him around and held him close. After a moment he pulled out of the hug and looked his godson in the eyes.

"That was a very brave thing you did, Harry, opposing Voldemort like that. I'm proud of you, and it's no wonder you're in Gryffindor, you know. By the way, speaking about my favourite house, please tell me you won the Quidditch Cup last year, you never told me anything about that."

Harry smiled knowingly. Sirius's attempt to distract him from his traumatic experience was kind of obvious, but he decided to fall for it intentionally.

"We didn't. It was cancelled because of the tournament."

"WHAT! How can Dumbledore do that, and only because of some glorified obstacle course!" now Sirius's outrage was real. Harry chuckled at his guardian's description of the Triwizard Tournament.

On the rest of their way to the Burrow, Harry filled in his godfather on all minor events from his fourth year that he hadn't mentioned in his letter. He was really excited to hear about Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and started wolf-whistling once Harry started telling him about his romance with Cho Chang, the Ravenclaw Seeker. Though a bit disappointed to hear she had broken up with him, Sirius still had words to encourage his godson.

"Eh, she didn't know what was good for her. Nevermind, Harry, whatever you do you're still a way bigger player than James ever was, it took him seven years to make a real move on your mum. You take more after me in that aspect." the wizard joked.

"I sure didn't get the modesty from you though." Harry replied just as the two entered the Weasleys' garden. As they got near the front door, Harry raised his hand to knock but thought better after a moment, so he turned around to ask something.

"Sirius, when was the newspaper from which you got the article printed?"

"Oh, about half an hour before I came to you, Harry." the Marauder replied.

"It was a preliminary edition, Dumbledore sent it to me."

"So that means it won't actually get printed to the mass public until tomorrow?" Harry raised his eyebrow. Sirius realised where his godson was going with this:

"OK, you go in and brief them on everything, I'll wait outside for a bit."

Harry nodded as Sirius hid behind the firewood stack next to the door. He didn't want to give Mrs. Weasley a heart attack, entering her house with a man she knew only as a mass murderer after all.

He then knocked on the door.

"Ginny! Be a darling and look who's at the door, would you?" Molly's voice sounded from the inside

"Yes mum." the girl's reply could be heard as she came down the stairs. A few moments later, she opened the door and gasped with surprise as she saw who was standing in front of it.

"Hey Ginny." Harry greeted her.

"Hi Harry. Come in, don't stay in the dark." Ginny replied, before turning around and calling her mum:

"Mum, Harry's come!"

Not even a second after Harry had entered, Mrs. Weasley peeked from behind the corner of the door frame leading to the kitchen, a most surprised expression on her face. Harry felt uncomfortable. It was a bit rude of him to just pop up unannounced like that, he thought. He should have told the Weasleys he was coming. Things just happened too quickly ever since Sirius showed up on Privet Drive.

"I'm sorry to barge in, Mrs. Weasley, I probably should have told you I was coming beforehand…"

"Oh, don't talk nonsense, Harry dear, you're welcome here anytime." she beamed at him, before turning to Ginny again:

"Ginny, could you please tell the others Harry has arrived?"

The girl nodded and headed back up the staircase. Mrs. Weasley then beckoned Harry to come over to the kitchen and sit down at the table.

As always, the Weasleys' kitchen was bustling with activity. Dishes scrubbed themselves clean and different sauces emitted pleasant smells as they stirred themselves, all synchronized to the movement of the witch's wand, like an orchestra following the instructions of the conductor. Harry took a deep breath, filling his lungs with the mixture of smells. The slight tinge of old wood from the furniture around him, combined with the various odours of the various dishes, along with a small contribution from the cinder in the fireplace together formed the distinctive smell of the Burrow, which Harry loved as much as the place itself.

However, he had to admit he had also smelled an unknown element. Added to the Burrow's usual aroma was a light and airy, flowery type of scent that pleasantly tickled Harry's nose but one he couldn't quite attribute to anything.

"So, Harry, why didn't you tell us you were coming? I mean, it is a pleasant surprise and all, but it still would have been better to know in advance, in order to prepare a bed for you. " Ron's mum asked as she passed Harry a dish with a hastily made cheese sandwich, which he took with a nod of gratitude.

"I'm sorry again, Mrs. Weasley." here Harry hesitated. He didn't quite want to start with the big revelations just yet, so he decided a little omission wouldn't hurt much.

"I just kind of decided it on a whim."

"But still, I think Hedwig would have had time to fly here while you were on the Knight Bus. Surrey isn't that far away, you know, and the bus is quite busy this time of the day, so you wouldn't have reached the Burrow all that soon."

Just as Harry himself had done not even an hour ago, Mrs. Weasley had thought he would either floo to the Burrow or take the Knight Bus.

"In fact, it was only half an hour ago. I travelled by Apparition." Harry replied, mentally going over answers for the question he was sure would follow. He didn't want to drop Sirius on her just yet.

"Side-along Apparition? With whom, dear?" the witch asked, looking around just as Sirius walked into the kitchen. Harry's jaw dropped. This was just what he was hoping to avoid.

"Harry travelled with me." he answered Molly's question, ignoring the stunned state she was currently in.

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Weasley, my name is Sirius Black. I am Harry's godfather." he introduced himself, spreading his hand forward. For a moment she just stood there looking at him, shocked out of her speech. However, she quickly regained her senses and aimed her wand at him.

"Mrs. Weasley, no!" Harry yelled, but she had already said the words:

" _STUPEFY!_ "

White light flew from her wandtip, hitting Sirius straight in the chest and slamming him against the wall behind him, breaking a few porcelain dishes in the process. As he slumped to the ground unconscious, Mrs. Weasley ran to the staircase and screamed desperately:

"Arthur! Come down at once! It's Black! Sirius Black has broken into our house!"

* * *

"You know, this was just the kind of situation I was hoping to avoid." Harry said, quite annoyed with his godfather, after casting the Reviving Spell on him. Sirius pulled himself back up and then sat in one of the chairs.

"It's getting chilly outside, I was freezing there and you were taking your time here." Sirius mumbled accusingly as he extended his hands to the fire while Harry casted " _Reparo_ " on all the broken plates.

Soon enough what could easily be mistaken for the march of an army was heard from the stairs, just a moment before Mrs. Weasley burst back into the kitchen, her wand dead on Sirius. She had brought reinforcements this time: Ron, his dad, Fred and George. All but Ron had their wands out, pointing them straight at the former prisoner of Azkaban.

Ron caught his mate's gaze and winced apologetically. While kind of disappointed that Ron hadn't told his family that Sirius was innocent after their third year, Harry understood that he probably wouldn't have been believed at the time. Now, however, the two had to solve this mess once and for all.

"Leave this house at once, Black, and stay away from Harry. You've caused the Potter family enough harm already." Arthur Weasley spoke calmly but menacingly.

Harry's sigh of exasperation brought the Weasleys' attention back to him.

"Mr. Weasley, Mrs. Weasley, could you sit down for a moment? Me and Ron have got some explaining to do about Sirius. Don't worry, he's not dangerous." Harry told them, as he slid the Prophet cutout on the table. The Weasley matriarch and patriarch took turns to read it, the other still holding Black in their wand's metaphorical sights. After both had read it, Harry could notice their hostility had ebbed somewhat, but they both still aimed their wands at Sirius.

"How could we be sure this isn't falsified, Harry?" Mr. Weasley asked him, only to receive an answer from his son instead.

"Because I saw him, dad. I saw Pettigrew."

Over the following 15 minutes Ron guided his parents and siblings through the events at the end of his third year, Ginny joining the rest halfway through. At the end, Harry added how he and Hermione had rescued Sirius, though omitting the use of the time turner: this secret was Hermione's to reveal.

At the end of the story, while they all still bore bewildered and slightly suspicious looks, the Weasleys finally brought down their wands and sat around the table, though still leaving the seat next to Sirius empty. Seeing they still didn't seem to trust Sirius, Harry spoke again:

"Oh, and the article you just read will be in tomorrow's Prophet. You can also ask Hermione, she also went through all that. Maybe I can write to her tomorrow."

"But you needn't, Harry, she's coming over in a few days anyway. In fact, we were planning to come fetch you in a day or two as well. " Mrs. Weasley replied. Quick to notice Harry's surprise, she clarified:

"Your birthday is in a week or two, isn't it? Well, I really wanted you to celebrate it properly for once, Harry. Ron's told me all about your muggle relatives. By the sound of it they're awful people, and I really doubt you have fun on the parties they make for your birthday."

"No way I would know that, they never make them."

Mrs. Weasley was appalled to hear that and everybody else around the table (but Harry) was also unpleasantly surprised. True, they all knew Harry had some pretty mean aunt and uncle… but not even celebrating his birthday?

"That's it, dear." Molly exclaimed, and the Weasley kids all winced instinctively as they heard her voice. She was now using her mum voice, which meant her word was law.

"I don't really care about what Dumbledore has to say; from now on I will have you here each year on the 31st of July and all the dementors in Azkaban could. Not. Stop. Me. " the witch declared, punctuating her last words by hitting the table with her fist.

Dinner was excellent as always when Mrs. Weasley did her magic in the kitchen. Harry was hooked on her treacle tart ever since he first tried it and this time it was as magnificent as ever. He also spent quite a nice time too, talking with Ron and his siblings about the upcoming school year, trying to predict whether the Quidditch Cup would be held this year and speculating about the identity of their new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher.

Only two things somewhat brought Harry's mood down. First, during the whole dinner, everyone but him and Ron would shoot Sirius this distrustful look, waiting for him to reveal his evil scheme. His godfather scoffed it off, but Harry knew he was feeling down in the dumps. Second, when Percy had come home late from work mid-dinner, he had nearly cursed the former prisoner's nose off. Only Sirius's excellent reflexes and Harry and Ron's storytelling had stopped Percy from rushing to the Ministry and coming back with a squad of Aurors.

After dinner it was time for sleep. As usual, Harry would share Ron's room. Sirius proposed spending the night in Arthur's shed, an offer the elder Weasleys gladly accepted. Harry frowned at his godfather's self-imposed exile, but realised the Weasleys still didn't trust him enough and probably wouldn't let him sleep inside anyway. After he climbed up to Ron's room, Harry hurried to the window, opened it and levitated a big heap of blankets down to the shed, dropping them right onto Sirius's head. After the two laughed for a bit, Sirius looked upwards, towards Harry, and said:

"Good night, Harry. Sleep well. And don't worry about me too much, it'll be all different when they see the Prophet tomorrow."

"Good night, Sirius!" Harry replied, before shutting the window and lying down in his bed. His godfather was right. The Weasleys would surely warm up to him once they read tomorrow's newspaper. With that thought still on his mind, he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

 **A/N 2** : I know Harry and Cho dated in the 5th year and not the 4th, but I changed that for the purposes of this story. Another small retcon: none of the Weasleys met Sirius in the hospital wing at the end of Harry's fourth year.


	4. The Tri-legged Tournament

**A/N** : I know my story is progressing a bit slowly by fanfiction standards, so I'll understand if you want it to speed up. If you're eager to go straight to the plot, you may skip this chapter. However, if you, like me, are a big fan of Fred and George's antics, I think you'll like this chapter :).

 **Chapter 4: The Tri-legged Tournament**

 _"_ _Kill the spare!"_

 _"_ _AVADA KEDAVRA!"_

The words still echoing in his mind, Harry awoke abruptly, breaking out in cold sweat and panting heavily. This also awoke Ron, who sat up in bed and looked worriedly at Harry. Catching the fear in his friend's eyes, the redhead fearfully diverted his gaze to Harry's forehead.

"The… the scar?" he asked, pointing his trembling finger at his own forehead.

Harry shook his head.

"No, just a dream this time." But one too vivid, Harry thought. He had been reliving Cedric's death in his dreams for more than a month now and was starting to get scared from going to sleep. He was reluctant to close his eyes, knowing that minutes later he'd be watching the Hufflepuff boy getting murdered in cold blood. Still, he knew his body needed the sleep, so he wrapped himself tightly in his blanket and drifted off again.

Luckily, the nightmare haunted him no more that night and when he awoke, lake into the morning, he was feeling well rested. Filled with energy, the boy rushed down the wooden staircase, ignoring the loud moans of the ghoul in the attic.

As he entered the kitchen, Harry was greatly surprised to see Sirius no longer isolated, but sitting in a corner together with the twins, waving his arms and explaining something with great gusto. Judging by the grins and the looks of admiration upon their faces, Harry supposed his godfather was passing some invaluable prank knowledge down to the next generation of Marauders.

No sooner had Harry wondered what the reason for the Weasleys' ceased hostility towards Sirius was then he saw it lying on the table, turned to page 2. As he sat himself down, he took the "Daily Prophet" and looked at the article on that page. Surprisingly, it was the one his godfather had shown him yesterday. Harry scratched his head. This story was a pretty big sensation by anyone's standards, so why wasn't it printed on the front page? Interested, Harry turned to the front page and stared at the huge jet black headline, taking about a quarter of the page:

 ** _HE-WHO-MUST-NOT-BE-NAMED RETURNS!_**

 _At the statement yesterday the Ministry confirmed our worst fears: He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named never died, but just went away. Now he has returned and is once again ready to sow chaos and destruction in our society. According to Minister Fudge, several of his servants, the Death Eaters, rejoined him the night he returned, ready to assist him in his evil deeds. Their names are known to the Auror Department and they are facing prosecution and a lifelong sentence in Azkaban for supporting He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's regime of terror and casting the Unforgivable Curses. The Ministry has enforced new security measures to ensure the safety of the citizen… (continues on Page 3)_

 _Page 4: Pratical Defense against the Dark Arts- how to protect our friends and family?_

 _Page 7: Was Lucius Malfoy under the Imperius curse when Voldemort returned? An interview with the former Death Eater by Rita Skeeter._

Harry had to reread the page several times to believe what he was seeing. How had Fudge, who only a few days ago stubbornly insisting that Voldemort's return was an invention of Harry's "young and over troubled mind" , which the "Prophet" didn't fail to mention, now suddenly admitting he was really back?

The teenager quickly went over the events of the past few days, before coming to a conclusion. The reason could only be his memory. Dumbledore had somehow shown Fudge his memory, though Harry had never heard of a spell like that before. He'd have to ask Hermione when she showed up.

"The old fox is not getting off this time." Mr. Weasley commented as he sat himself down next to Harry, noticing the boy was perusing the article. The teenager looked at him with confusion for a second, before remembering the last line on the page.

"Malfoy." he muttered, nodding at the same time.

"As you are well aware, Harry, half of us already knew he's rotten to the core. He only got off last time because of his Ministry ties and pretending to be under the Imperius Curse. However, by the looks of it, the Ministry has severed those ties, or else they wouldn't be sending Rita Skeeter after him. And the Imperius alibi won't work a second time. He might evade Azkaban, but all will now know his true colours."

For a tiny fraction of a second, Harry actually felt sorry for Lucius Malfoy. He himself had suffered under the quill of Rita Skeeter last year and knew all too well that the stains her ridiculous articles left on one's reputation were very hard to erase.

However, then he remembered who the elder Malfoy actually was: Dobby's abusive former master and the main culprit behind the reopening of the Chamber of Secrets, which had nearly cost Ginny her life. Remembering her pale, lifeless form lying on the cold stone, while Tom Riddle taunted her and Harry, the teenager pressed his hands into fists. If anybody deserved having Rita Skeeter set loose upon them, it was Lucius Malfoy.

"No more "My father will hear about this!" then!" Ron gloated as he entered the room, earning a chuckle from Ginny, Harry, Fred and George. Arthur Weasley, however, replied sternly:

"Be careful around Draco Malfoy, Ron. Don't go looking for trouble, who knows what dark magic his father taught him."

"Of course dad." the teen responded, as he sat himself on Harry's other side.

"Unless he's being a git as usual." he whispered in his friend's ear.

After they'd had breakfast, Harry, Ron and Ginny were about to return upstairs when they were approached by Fred, George and Sirius, all bearing foreshadowing grins on their faces.

"Meet as at 10 in the garden." Fred said cryptically before leaving the room. Sirius and George followed suit, still grinning from ear to ear.

"They're up to something, those three. " Ginny narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

"It's unusual for Fred and George though, being so secretive about their pranks. They're usually in-your-face, blowing up that is." Ron noted.

"I think Sirius is getting to them." Harry voiced his opinion. When Ginny raised her eyebrow, he clarified:

"My dad, Sirius and Lupin were something like Fred and George's predecessors. The Marauders used to drive the whole school crazy as well."

Ginny sighed with false exasperation:

"Great, just what we needed, a mentor for those two." though it was clear she was excited for 10 o'clock.

The three went back upstairs and killed time with a few games of Exploding Snap. Their minds on Fred and George's secret, they weren't paying much attention to the cards, which resulted in about half the deck exploding. Their faces were covered with soot as they headed for the yard half an hour later. The three pranksters were waiting for them by the fence.

"So, what's happening?" Ron asked as he, Harry and Ginny joined them. He didn't get an answer. Instead, George pointed his wand at his brother's left leg and said:

" _Crura clauditem!"_

In an instant, Ron's leg stuck to Ginny's right, joining them from hip to foot. Startled, they tried to separate, but to no avail; the spell was stronger than any Muggle glue.

Harry laughed at their predicament just as Sirius rushed over to him and cast the same spell. The boy felt a sudden pull and his right leg was joined with Sirius's left. It was Ron and Ginny's turn to laugh now. But it was not over yet. Brining out his wand, Fred cast the same spell on himself and sealed himself to George like a sucker fish.

Harry was starting to see where this was going and the twins soon confirmed it.

"We were just talking with Sirius about this amazing race he did in his sixth year." Fred began, nodding to the Marauder.

"He and Lupin raced versus Wormtail and your dad, Harry, from the Northern Tower to the Big Hall and then up to the Gryffindor common room."

"Let me guess: it was a three-legged race." Ginny said.

"Indeed, sis." George confirmed.

"And in honor of these brave men, who inspired a generation of mischief-makers, we'll host one of our own!" he proclaimed with pathos.

"Of course, outright copying is no fun, so we gave it a little twist." Fred chuckled.

"So here are the rules: there's an old Muggle hand watch laying on top of the opposite side of the fence. Whichever team gets there first scores a point."

"You can't cast spells on members of your own team." Sirius chimed in. Then he turned to Harry with a devilish glint in his eye and continued:

"But all other teams are fair-game."

"Hey wait!" Harry interrupted.

"How are we supposed to play if we can't do magic out of school?"

Ron and Ginny nodded. As they were underage, using any magic outside of Hogwarts was prohibited by the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery and the Improper Use of Magic office would be after them if they broke that rule. Sometimes they even got a little overzealous, Harry thought, as he remembered how he had taken the blame for Dobby's Hover Charm.

"Well, the decree isn't set in stone." Fred replied.

"All you'll ever get is warnings and reprimands from mum unless you also go and break the Statute of Secrecy."

"Furthermore," George continued ", the Ministry can't really tell _who_ is casting the spells, only that a spell is cast near an underage wizard. We can always just say it was me, Fred and Sirius doing all the spell casting and they have no way to prove us wrong. Everything clear?"

Harry, Ron and Ginny nodded, satisfied to hear they'd be getting no owls from the Ministry.

"OK then… 3… 2… 1… RUN!"

All 3 teams shot off at the same time. Ron and Ginny decided to go around the left side of the Burrow, while the twins, Harry and Sirius chose the right.

The twins were ahead, but Harry and Sirius were quickly gaining on them. Having heard them come closer, Fred pointed his wand over his shoulder and yelled:

" _Petrificus Totalus!_ "

He hadn't looked behind, though, so the Body-Bind Curse flew way off its target. Grinning victoriously, Harry spread out his wand and retaliated:

" _Tarantallegra!_ "

The spell hit George. Immeadiately, his legs stopped obeying him and began dancing what closely resembled step. That proved difficult with his leg joined with Fred's so soon they both tumbled down, laughing their lungs out.

"Good one, Harry." George cheered as Harry passed him by, his legs still twisting in rhytm.

"But not good enough!" he added after the boy was ahead, before he cast a spell:

" _Aqua Eructo!"_

Harry chanced a glance backward. A huge water jet had shot out of George's wand, aimed straight for him. He instinctively shut his eyes, but Sirius had anticipated that and was already reacting:

" _Protego!_ "

Harry turned back forward and opened his eyes. The jet of water had splashed against the Shield Charm and was raining around them like a garden sprinkle. Harry felt a bit like he was at one of those muggle water parks.

The hand watch was now in sight. Motivated, Harry and Sirius sped up their pace. However, just as they were coming around the house, they encountered Ron and Ginny. Harry was the first to react, pointing his wand straight at Ron:

" _Confundo!"_

Ron suddenly stopped, almost sending his sister toppling over. He then shouted:

"Blimey, we've been running the wrong way, Gin!" right before he tried to turn and run in the opposite direction. Ginny quickly cast the counter curse, but by that time it was too late. Harry and Sirius were standing by the watch, beaming. The two Weasleys joined them and together they waited for the twins. After a few seconds the two came along, George still breaking out in dance now and then.

"So, I guess we won?" Harry told them.

"Maybe the battle, but not the war!" George proclaimed, as he neutralised all spells cast on the teams except the Leg-Binding Charm.

"See that watch?" Fred asked.

"It's a Portkey. This morning, we set up five of those in the nearby area. At the end of each round, we use the Portkey and go to the next stage together. On the count of 3 we start again. Same rules apply as before. The last Portkey will take us back here and the final round is racing back to the start. 5 points can be won in total. Whichever team has 1 or less points in the end loses."

"What happens to the losers?" Ron asked, dreading the answer.

"They will be test subjects for Weasley Wizard Wheezes until school starts again." Fred cackled, rubbing his hands like an old film villain. All but him and George shuddered at the prospect of a month spent as the twins' test bunny.

"You ready?" George asked. As everybody nodded, theyy spread out their hands and laid them on the watch.

Harry instantly felt the familiar hook behind the navel queasy feeling as the Portkey carried them off to the next location, which turned out to be the top of Stoatshead Hill.

"The Portkey is the old tire over there." George said, pointing at a tire about fifty yards away.

"Ready? 3,2,1, go!"

And the teams were off again. This time the race was more tricky. First, the terrain was uneven, so they had to be careful not to trip on a root or a rock. Second, they were racing side by side now, which made hexing the competition much, much easier.

" _Rictusempra!_ " Fred yelled, pointing his wand at Harry. Instantly, the boy burst out in uncontrollable laughter as a tickling sensation enveloped his whole body. While preventing him from casting any spell, this didn't stop Harry from running as fast as he can, so he and Sirius overtook the twins. Ron and Ginny, however, had gained on them while they were distracted by Fred and George. And judging by the looks of his godfather, Harry guessed he wasn't going to let them come up second.

" _Colloshoo!_ " he spoke, moving his wand in a zig-zag pattern before pointing his wand at Ginny's feet. Green ooze shot from its tip and stuck onto her heel. The girl made a step and then tried another but suddenly stopped, glued to the ground. This also unbalanced Ron, who nearly fell over, but somehow managed to remain standing.

"Oh, I don't think so!" Ginny exclaimed angrily as Harry and Sirius passed her. Spreading out her wand, she flung a hex at the Marauder:

" _Vesper Tenasi!_ "

Ron shuddered. He remembered Ginny casting _that_ spell once before. The results weren't pleasant to observe.

Sirius stopped, his head surrounded by green mist. He coughed and tried to wave it away, but it was too late. He had already inhaled the mist.

Harry stood beside him and watched in a mix of horror and amusement as bogeys flew out of his godfather's nose, growing in size and changing in shape to resemble bats. The creatures flocked around Sirius's head and attacked him. He yelled in panic and started waving his hands, trying to drive away the bats.

By the time Ginny had managed to unstuck her leg and Sirius had driven all the bats away, the twins were waiting for the two other teams at the finish line with awestruck, but horrified, expressions.

"Sirius, you just witnessed the most terrible spell in our little sister's arsenal." Fred told him.

"The Bat Bogey Hex." George said and shuddered. Harry looked at Ginny questioningly and she nodded, smirking. Apparently, Sirius wasn't the only prankster who had fallen victim to the Bat Bogey Hex.

The next round was won by Ron and Ginny, thanks to the boy's successful use of the _Impedimenta_ spell against both the other teams. He tried it again the round after that, but this time Fred and George were ready and used the Shield Charm, so the spell rebounded back upon their younger siblings, freezing them in their position. However, this left them wide open for attacks from Sirius, who again used _Coloshoo_ to stick Fred to the ground, netting Harry and his godfather a victory in this round.

The final and decisive round was also the most intense one. From the moment the teams returned to the Burrow and Fred did the countdown all three teams became a blur of spells and jinxes being hurled around a dozen a second. Harry could barely see where he was going because of the light from the spells flashing constantly. In the middle of the chaos, somebody hit him with a _Stupefy._

" _Rennervate._ " the boy heard George say after a minute had passed. As he stood up, the twin smiled sheepishly:

"Sorry for taking so long, Harry. I just had no idea which spell hit you, so I had to try a few before I got to the right one. Hey, whose was the Stunner?" he raised his voice.

Sirius looked at him bedazzled, before hiding his face in one hand and guiltily raising the other, much to everybody's amusement. The twins jokingly catcalled him

Fred and George had already cast the counter charm for the Leg-Binding Charm, so Harry was free to move around. Ron and Ginny were standing by the fence and the boy went over to join them.

"Blimey, she'll kill me, Ginny. " he could hear his friend mutter as he got nearby.

"Who'll kill you, Ron?" Harry asked, befuddled. The red-haired boy moved aside and fearfully pointed at the object in front of him.

There on the grass lay Hermione Granger, apparently caught in the crossfire of the three-legged race's final round. She seemed to have been hit by a Full Body-Bind Curse and currently resembled a sinister statue with her stern gaze, clenched teeth and an index finger stretched out in a warning.

"Who cast the spell?" Harry asked, although he hardly needed to. Guilt was written all over Ron's face.

"Better revive her sooner rather than later. The more you wait, the less happy she'll be about it." Ginny advised her stunned brother. He nodded, then semi-reluctantly pointed his wand at the lying girl. A second later she was standing up, briskly removing the blades of grass on her jumper and glaring daggers at her reviver.

"Don't get me wrong, Ron, I'm glad you're spending your free time practicing your wandwork as Professor Flitwick recommended, but maybe you should choose a more appropriate _target_ in the future." the girl spoke icily. However, she was smiling in the end, which probably meant she wouldn't be mad at her friend for too long.

"Hi Harry, Hi Ginny," the girl then turned to greet the other two.

"Enjoying your holiday so far?"

Ginny nodded, while Harry wondered what to say.

"Er… you know the Dursleys, Hermione. Still, yesterday turned out nice."

"How so?" the Muggleborn was curious, but soon the answer presented himself.

"For a start, I got him out of that hellhole." Sirius showed up. Hermione went all pale and started looking around for Dementors and Aurors. Noticing his friend's reaction, Harry rushed to the Burrow and came back out with the " _Daily Prophet_ " in hand, turned to page 2, which he promptly handed to her.

After a moment, the girl visibly calmed down and cheered up.

"I'm so happy for you, Sirius." Hermione said as she went to fold the paper, turning it back to page 1. Noticing the headline, she again focused on the newspaper.

"So they finally admit it." she noted crossly, before returning the newspaper to Harry.

"Took them long enough. You know, it would be nice if the " _Prophet"_ stopped being the Ministry's puppet and listened to reason for once."

Harry nodded, totally agreeing with his friend. The newspaper's denial act, mirroring Fudge's own, had caused the boy to lose the last ounce of respect he had for the _Prophet_ , already severely damaged by Rita Skeeter's outrageous articles she published last year. Harry, Ron and Hermione all agreed that the only thing worth reading in the wizard's newspaper nowadays was the Sports Section.

"Hey, Hermione, fancy joining us for the next edition of the Tri-legged Tournament tomorrow?" Fred asked as he came over to her.

Harry, Ron and Ginny all snorted upon hearing the moniker George's twin had come up with for the race they'd just had. Sadly, not everyone was so amused.

"I thought I was clear enough last time." Molly Weasley spoke as she approached her children, fuming. Fred and George both took defensive stances and hurried behind the others, using them as a barrier against their mother.

"You can't just go around creating Portkeys like that, that spell can only be cast with the Ministry's permission! You'll cost your father his job!" Mrs. Weasley became red in the face as the kids witnessed her famous temper.

"So we didn't." George spoke in a surprisingly calm manner.

"We only used some old ones dad brought us and…well, tinkered with them a bit."

"Tinkered, huh?" his mother asked. While still angry, it was now clear that some of her fury was diverted towards Mr. Weasley. Shooting a reprimanding look at each of the twins, she stormed off back to the Burrow, muttering to herself:

"Tinkering… spitting image of your father, you two are…"

After hearing the rules of the Tri-legged Tournament, Hermione was a bit skeptical at first, but in the end she joined the others the following day, playing together with Harry (Sirius had gone off to fetch Buckbeak from their last hiding place). This time, there were only 4 rounds (as Ron had lost one of the portkeys, a rusty old can, the previous day) and a prize for the winner: one of the twins' fake joke wands. They ended up winning it themselves, but swapped it and Ginny's wand while she wasn't watching.

This turned out to be a really clever move, as later in the evening, when the girl fell victim to their Canary Cream and tried to unleash the notorious Bat-Bogey Hex upon Fred, she instead got a pair of bunny slippers. Luckily for Fred and George, she actually liked the slippers, so disaster was averted even after she got back her wand.

 **A/N** : Next chapter should be coming in a day or two, almost ready.


	5. A Grim Birthday

**Chapter 5: A Grim Birthday**

Time flies when one is having fun, and Harry was certainly having the best summer holiday of his life. So it was no wonder that when he woke up one day to find a birthday present waiting for him by his bed, he felt as if 2 days had passed and not 2 weeks.

"Happy birthday, Harry! Hope you like it, mate." Ron said as his friend briskly unpacked the gift, eager to find out what it was. Inside the box was a pair of sunglasses like nothing Harry had seen before. Instead of a frame, they had a big leather strap to be strapped behind one's head.

Ron was quick to explain once his friend looked quizzically at him:

"These are Quidditch goggles. You can wear them when the sun is too bright or when it's raining, to shield your eyes. Your other glasses should fit under them too."

"Brilliant! Thanks, Ron. I'll try them this afternoon. Up for a game?"

Ron nodded enthusiastically.

Harry had a very pleasant morning. Down in the kitchen, Mrs. Weasley had prepared a breakfast rivaling the one of the Hogwarts house elves. She was extremely busy though, preparing meals for Harry's party, which was going to be held at noon, so after a quick set of congratulations and a kiss on the cheek, she hurried back to the stove, promising Harry he'd get hers and Arthur's present during the party.

A little bit after breakfast Harry also got Hermione's present: a magical beanie hat that changed colours according to the emotions of the one wearing it. As the boy put it on, it flashed a lively, vibrant orange.

"You almost look like a Weasley now." Ginny commented cheerfully as she entered the room. Her gift was a carnival mask with feathers of myriad different birds decorating it. Combined with the color-changing hat, the multicoloured plumage gave Harry the appearance of a bird of paradise. As an additional bonus, he could also sound like one if he wanted to, since the mask enabled him to mimic bird sounds.

The four were having fun confusing the hens in the henhouse and the ducks in the little pond with the help of Harry's mask when they were approached by the twins, whose gift was angrily jumping around in its box, the two barely able to hold it.

"How about some Quidditch this afternoon?" Fred asked, receiving absent-minded nods from Harry, Ron and Ginny in response. Noticing their attention was still fixed on the moving box, he smiled and gave it to Harry:

"Great! That means you'll be able to use your present today, Harry. You wouldn't want to leave it lying around for too long. It turns sour."

Mystified by the twins' aggressive present, Harry tentatively unwrapped it and opened the wooden box inside. There, thrashing around madly, but kept in place by multiple bands of Spell-o-tape, was a Bludger unlike any Harry had ever seen before. Instead of the uniform colour others sported, this one was painted in all colours of the rainbow with white stripes separating the different colours, resembling a lollypop.

"Weasley Wizard Wheezes is proud to present the Piñata Bludger!" George proclaimed proudly.

"Crack the sugary shell and get the sweet loot inside!" Fred added.

Ron, Hermione and Ginny gathered around Harry to take a closer look at the edible Bludger. They all agreed it was an awesome concept. Noticing the happy and slightly jealous look in their little sister's eye, the twins smiled:

"Don't worry, Gin, we've also got you covered. On the 11th of August, expect one of these fellows flying to a window near you." Fred teased her.

"Of course, everything for our sister's birthday." George joined in.

"Have you thought about other Quidditch-themed stuff? Candy cane brooms, hot potato quaffles, toffee snitches? You can take the market by storm with that, you know." Ron suggested. His brothers stared back at him in utter bewilderment.

"You know Ron, sometimes a good idea actually comes out of that thick head of yours."

As George joked, Ron bent down to pick up something from the ground. When Harry turned to watch, he noticed it was a gnome. The pesky little creatures always returned to the Weasleys' yard, no matter how many time they de-gnomed it. The one Ron had picked up was especially grumpy and tried to bite off a chunk of his finger. Ignoring its ferociousness, Ron held the gnome by its feet and spun it like a lasso before sending it flying straight into George's face. Realising what would follow, Harry quickly took off his hat and his mask and stuffed them into the pockets of his robe.

A war began. Everybody scattered around the yard, looking for gnomes to yank away and hurl into their opponents' faces. At first there was some semblance of teams- Fred, George and Ginny versus Harry, Ron and Hermione. However, after multiple instances of friendly fire from Harry, Ron and the twins, the girls gave up too and the war turned into a free-for-all.

The war ended undecided when Buckbeak came over and started chasing the gnomes, thinking them for some exciting new snack. His hunt proved more efficient than any de-gnoming, rendering the whole yard entirely gnomeless within a single minute, with the exception of some poor gnomes still fleeing near the fence.

When Harry glanced back to the Burrow over Buckbeak's back, he noticed the Weasleys had a guest, clad in shabby robes. As recognition struck him, the man turned around and waved at the boy, smiling.

"Professor Lupin!" Harry shouted excitedly, bringing the others' attention to their former teacher as well. They all hurried over to him. He greeted them with a smile, before turning to Harry, a small box held in his hand.

"Happy birthday, Harry. I hope this proves useful to you."

Harry opened the small box Lupin handed him to find something that resembled a pocket Sneakoscope, but not quite. It was roughly the same size, but cubical in shape. As Harry picked it up, it lit up with green light and a miniature image of a gnome appeared in its centre. Not even a second later, an actual gnome stumbled over Harry's foot, cursing in its high-pitched voice.

"It's a Creature Detector." Lupin clarified, noticing the curious glances the kids were throwing him. However, seeing that besides Hermione, the others were still confused, the werewolf explained further:

"It detects nearby magical creatures. Judging by the light it emits you can tell if they're dangerous or not. Gnomes are mostly harmless, so it shone green, as you saw. However, if let's say a Dementor is nearby it should shine red. Additionally, you can get a bit of information about the creature detected if you tap the detector with your wand."

Harry thought that was a pretty useful present indeed. He thanked his former Professor as they entered the Burrow together. While Lupin headed upstairs (he wanted to surprise Sirius), the kids returned to the kitchen, only to find another unexpected guest.

" 'Arry! 'Ow great to see you again!" Fleur Delacour exclaimed as she rose from her chair and hugged her fellow Triwizard Champion, nearly driving all the air out of his lungs.

"G-great to see you too." he managed to respond with the little breath he had left.

"How did you get here? Did you Apparate from France?" Harry asked, wondering if one could Apparate over such big distances.

"No, I came by ze bus." she replied. Noticing the younger boy's confusion, the French witch began explaining:

"Remember when I told you I wanted to get a job 'ere? To improve my Eenglish? I got an internship at ze Wizard's Bank, Gringotts."

"That's great, I'm happy for you!" Harry responded, before he heard scoffing from behind him. Turning around, he found Ginny Weasley glaring daggers in the French girl's direction. The boy raised an eyebrow and took a mental note to ask Ginny what that was about later.

" 'Appy birthday, 'Arry!" he then turned back to Fleur as she handed him a small painting. Upon closer inspection, he noticed it moved, just like wizard pictures. It depicted Harry swimming through what he supposed was the Black Lake, fighting off Grindylows attacking from the depths.

"Gabrielle and I painted it together for you. She wanted to come too, but mum wouldn't let 'er. It is too dangerous with Voldemor' on the loose."

Harry was somewhat surprised to hear Fleur speak the Dark Lord's name, since he had come to only expect that of those who actively opposed him, like Dumbledore, Sirius and Lupin. Everybody else was too scared to speak the name. However, after thinking about it for a second, it made sense. Fleur was French after all, she couldn't know about all the terrible stuff Voldemort had done and thus had no fear of the name. To her, it was just a dangerous Dark Wizard.

Just as all Weasleys winced at hearing Fleur pronounce the name, one of the hands of the big grandfather clock on the wall moved. Harry turned to look at it and saw it was Bill's. The hand was now moving from "Work" to "Home". Soon after it reached its destination, everybody heard the distinctive sound of somebody flooing in and a second later the eldest Weasley kid was coming out of the flames.

"Bill! 'Ow was your day?" Fleur shot straight for him.

"Nothing out of the ordinary. Hi, Harry. Happy birthday!" the long-haired man shook hands with the boy, disregarding the French girl for a second. Judging by a suppressed chuckle coming from behind him, Harry guessed Ginny found that extremely funny.

However, Harry barely had time to thank Bill before Fleur dragged him outside "for a small walk before ze party", this time earning herself a scoff not only from Ginny, but from Mrs. Weasley as well.

* * *

"That Phlegm has her mind set on Bill ever since she first saw him during the Tournament." Ginny explained angrily once she, Harry, Ron and Hermione had gone back upstairs to Ron's room.

"Phlegm? Who's Phlegm?" Harry asked, befuddled.

"Don't mind Ginny, mate, she's got it in for Fleur." Ron told him, a bit irritated. Hermione responded by punching him in the shoulder.

"Hey, what's that for?" the boy complained as his sister smiled her thanks to Hermione.

"Unlike you, Ron, some of us don't let that Veela magic get to our head." she scolded him, before turning to Harry to explain further.

"She's hitting on him, Harry. It's quite obvious by now, and quite annoying. I came to visit Ron and Ginny several times over the summer and there wasn't a single time when I didn't find her orbiting around Bill."

"It's probably why she also chose the internship at Gringotts, so she could pester Bill while he's unprotected." Ginny chimed in.

"I doubt she chose it because of the thrill of filling out reports for grumpy old goblins."

When Harry laughed at that, Ginny blushed. However, after exchanging quick glances with Hermione, she quickly supressed it. The boys noticed nothing.

"Still, I doubt he's having it as bad as you're making it out to be. I mean, what man wouldn't want a pretty girl tracing his every step?" Harry joked, also earning himself a soft punch from Hermione.

"Maybe one who actually uses his brain for a change, like Bill." the girl responded ironically.

"Yes, good that he's still resisting that Phlegm." Ginny agreed.

"She's pretty persistent though. We have to think of something soon."

"Admit it, girls, you're just jealous of her." Ron said, smiling.

"Or maybe you are jealous of Bill." Ginny shot back. Ron's face quickly turned the shade of his hair, much to the rest's amusement.

"Quidditch time!" somebody yelled outside. When Harry went to the window to see who it was, he saw Fred and George, each holding a broom in one hand and the box with the Piñata Bludger in the other.

"Ready to test your present, Harry?" Fred asked. Harry nodded enthusiastically.

* * *

A minute later all players gathered in the apple orchard behind the Burrow's yard, which often served the role of a Quidditch field. After splitting up- Harry, Sirius and Ron versus Ginny and the twins- they decided that each team would consist of a Chaser, a Keeper and a Beater. Lupin and Hermione joined them to spectate the game. Harry volunteered to be his team's Beater- he was eager to see if he'd manage to crack the Piñata.

The game turned out way different than usual, if only because of Fred and George's Bludger. Harry had no idea if they had intended it to be that way, or if it was a curious side-effect, but the Piñata Bludger behaved nothing like other Bludgers. Instead of flying on a straight trajectory at the player the Beater aimed it at, it seemed to pick its targets at random and do a series of zigzags and weird curves, making it impossible to determine who it was aimed at before it nearly hit them. The game ended when Harry smacked it, aiming for Fred, only for the Bludger to loop around the twin and come back to smack Harry in the face vindictively, shattering from the impact.

This sent the boy falling down from his broom, surrounded by a rain of sweets. Luckily, he wasn't flying too high so all he got from the fall was another bruise in addition to the giant one already spreading on the right side of his face.

"Are you OK, Harry?" Ginny asked with concern as she landed next to him, closely followed by Ron.

"I think so." Harry said, rubbing his head. Of course, it hurt quite a bit, as could be expected after a direct Bludger impact, but he couldn't feel any broken bone or bleeding. Apparently, the Piñata didn't strike as hard as a normal Bludger.

"I told you we overtuned the curved trajectory." Fred insisted as he landed, deep in conversation with George.

"Yes, we'll have to work on that in the next iterations." his brother agreed, oblivious to the angry Hermione and Ron stomping their way towards them.

"You dimwitted morons!" the girl yelled at the top of her voice, frightening them.

"I don't think You-Know-Who needs your help with killing Harry, you know." Ron remarked sarcastically.

The grins vanished from the twins' faces. Slowly, they ambled their way to Harry and looked at him guiltily.

"Sorry, mate. Should have done more testing on the thing before giving it to you." George apologized.

"Yes, tell us what real present you want." Fred added.

"No, I liked this one." Harry objected, chewing one of the chocolates that had fallen out of the Bludger. When Ginny eyed him suspiciously, maybe thinking he was lying out of courtesy, the boy added:

"No, it was brilliant. Just maybe try toning down its aggression for Ginny's birthday."

Fred and George shuddered at the mere thought of what their mum would do to them if their Bludger smacked Ginny the same way it did Harry. On the other hand, they realised, startled, she wouldn't be too forgiving now either…

Reading their expressions like a book, Harry took pity on them.

"I can't go to the party like that, can I?" he asked as he put on Ginny's mask to conceal the bruise, to the twins' great relief. Ginny and Hermione stared at him angrily, apparently thinking Fred and George deserved to face the consequences of their actions, but Harry shook his head. He had been injured worse many times during Quidditch games and wasn't going to let his best friend's brothers get into trouble over some small bruise.

" 'Arry, ze lunch is ready!" Fleur called from somewhere behind him. He turned and saw the French witch pass the fence and enter the orchard. When she looked up and saw him, she stopped dead in her tracks, taken aback. Just as Harry was wondering what was so surprising for her, Fleur produced a piercing shriek. The boy looked her in the eyes and saw pure _fear._

 _"_ _Stupefy!"_ she screamed at the top of her lungs, wand aimed at Harry

* * *

" _Rennervate!"_

Ron helped Harry up while Hermione put her wand back inside her robes.

"What happened, Harry?" she asked.

"No idea. When I turned around, Fleur looked like she'd seen a ghost and stunned me."

The three friends were distracted by a sudden wail. Looking back, they saw Fleur was lying on the ground in a fetal position, sobbing, while Bill knelt down to her and tried to calm her down, his hand around her shoulder.

When the three came over to her, she had already sat up and calmed down somewhat, though still crying and letting out a sob now and then. As she looked up and saw Harry, the French girl cried harder again for a few seconds, before getting up with Bill's help.

"I'm…I'm sorry, 'Arry." she apologised, her voice trembling, while Lupin and the rest of the players gathered around her.

"It is just…zis mask… for a moment I thought… no, nevermind."

When he heard that, Harry took off his mask and stared at it, puzzled. It looked like a normal carnaval mask to him. He thought maybe Ginny had bewitched it to look like something horrible to Fleur, in an attempt to scare off the Phlegm.

"What do you mean, his mask? What's wrong with it?" Ginny asked, sounding just as befuddled as Harry. The boy threw her a scrutinising glance. Either Ginny was an outstanding liar or his theory had just been disproven.

"Oh no, nothing, zis a wonderful… _mask."_ the Triwizard Champion replied, uttering the last word with great difficulty, further confusing everybody. Noticing that, she took a deep breath and looked at Harry again.

" 'Arry, 'ow would you react if you saw I 'ad a Dark Mark?" she asked, caressing her forearm.

"I'd probably stun you." the boy replied. He slowly began understanding.

"Exactly. 'Arry. When I was a small girl, zere was zis Dark Wizard on ze loose in France. _Le Ombre,_ ze Shadow."

"I see." Harry interrupted.

"And his followers wore masks like these?"

" _Oui_ … and no, 'Arry. Le Ombre never 'ad any followers. 'Owever… 'e used masks like zese. And when… and when 'e put zem on another's face…" here Fleur had to pause to suppress the lump in her throat.

"… zat person became a Masqué, a Masked One. A slave to Le Ombre's will, a pawn to do 'is bidding. Zey put friends and family behind for zeir Master. But ze worst is… you didn't know it until ze end… until ze time came to do 'is bidding…"

"He had them behave like the person they were before, using their memories as a reference, making them keep the mask hidden. But when the time came for them to act, they would put it back on, praise his name and complete their mission." Lupin interrupted. Fleur looked at him, surprised to hear somebody else knew.

Noticing the girl was too distressed to continue, the professor took it upon himself to finish the story.

"In many ways, Le Ombre was to the French wizards and witches what Voldemort was to us: an evil, power-hungry wizard who brought about many years of fear and suffering.

However, while in some ways he was less terrifying than Voldemort- for an example, he and those under his control resorted to murder rarer than the Death Eaters- in others he was way more frightening. As his name suggests, he always worked from the shadows, never came out in the open, only communicating with the outside world through letters and his minions.

Additionally, his goal was unclear. Unlike Voldemort, whose goal was clearly establishing dominance over Britain and cleansing it from muggles and Muggleborns, Le Ombre never clearly stated exactly what he wanted. His demands towards the French Ministry often made little sense. Nobody was sure exactly what he or she was after, so everybody was afraid.

Finally, the last thing that made Le Ombre so terrifying was the uncertainty he spread. While the Death Eaters' identities are widely known, anybody could be a Masked One at the time, as he swapped his servants all the time, never spending two months in a row with the same minions. This basically put all of wizarding France in a state-wide paranoia. Nobody knew who exactly was a Masked One."

"Wait, he swapped his minions all the time? Doesn't that mean he left a lot of witnesses? How didn't any of them reveal his identity after they were no longer under the masks' effect?" Ron asked.

"It was part of the enchantment of the masks. No former Masked had any recollection of what happened during their service. According to victim reports, for them it was like being possessed."

Upon hearing these words, Ginny suddenly grew very pale. Harry, Ron and Hermione looked at her with concern. Harry guessed this must remind her too much of the time she was possessed by Riddle's diary. For just a moment the boy imagined what it would have been like if Voldemort had employed this as a widespread strategy. He shivered at the prospect, understanding Fleur's horror better now.

"When I was four, my father was one for a while. 'e was never quite ze same afterwards." the French girl added, trembling as she recalled that.

Everyone remained silent for a minute, unable to say anything. It was Hermione who first broke this silence:

"When was he caught, Professor?"

"He wasn't, Hermione." Lupin replied grimly, shocking the girl.

"About a year after Voldemort fell, the French Ministry got word of the location of his hideout. They broke in and found where he had been making the masks, along with what at the time looked to be Le Ombre, as he gave the French Aurors the fight they would expect from a dark wizard. Later, however, they found out the man was just another Masked One. The real Le Ombre is assumed to have escaped somewhere in Eastern Europe."

"Bloody hell, so he's still out there?" Ron asked, terrified.

"Probably, but he hasn't shown any signs of returning, unlike Voldemort did, so I think this is a problem better left for the future. One dark wizard is enough to deal with."

"Ever since 'e is gone, ze carnival mask and all its depictions are forbidden in wizarding France. We do not forget our past. Zis is why I was so scared when I saw 'Arry. 'is mask was ze first I saw since my father's. " Fleur added, tears still leaking from her eyes.

* * *

Understandably, Harry's birthday party didn't turn out to be very cheerful. The sky was clear and the sun shone bright upon the many dishes Mrs. Weasley had brought out on the tables Mr. Weasley had set out on the lawn, but nobody felt like eating or celebrating after hearing the story.

Fleur and Bill were absent from the table, as she was still very upset over her painful recollections. After Ron had summarised the story for them, his parents had also joined Bill inside the Burrow in trying to comfort the French girl.

The others all valiantly tried to fake some cheer for Harry and he in turn tried to return some when he received the rest of his presents (a new cage for Hedwig from Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Bill and a training Snitch that zoomed around its owner's head from Sirius), but anybody could tell none of them were up for celebration.

* * *

As evening neared and all the tables, plates and cutlery had been returned inside the kitchen, Harry began slowly climbing the staircase back to Ron's room. Part of him wished he hadn't heard the story today. He didn't want to know that there were other dark wizards out there.

Voldemort had always been a looming threat, but there had been this silent hope in Harry that had persisted ever since he first defeated the dark wizard in his first year. A hope that Voldemort could be defeated and a hope that the world would be rid of darkness upon his defeat. Looking back, Harry recognised that as a childish hope, but a hope he had nonetheless clung on to.

Now it was clear that even after Voldemort was defeated the Wizarding World could never be truly rid of evil. Harry had no doubt that just like Le Ombre, there were probably dozens of dark wizards out there, threatening to return at any time and sow chaos. In the end, defeating Voldemort would barely make any difference whatsoever, the boy thought with despair.

A sudden silence filled Harry's ears. He stopped for a second, unsure why it surprised him, but then he realised that up until now it had been filled with the sound of somebody else's footsteps. When he climbed up to the second floor, he saw they had been Ginny's.

The girl stood still in the middle of the landing, as if she would turn to the door of her room at any moment. She didn't. The youngest Weasley didn't move at all, in fact, not even when Harry came onto the landing and approached her.

Noticing her painfully clutched fists, Harry thought that for her Fleur's story had probably been hard to listen to. Too many ties to her own past, to the horrors of her first year.

"Ginny?" he whispered softly. He didn't want to startle her. The girl quickly turned around, hiding her hands behind her back. He could see the dried up tear traces on her cheeks.

"Yes, Harry?" she replied with an even tone.

"Do you want to talk about it?" the boy asked, knowing there was no use of asking if something was wrong.

Ginny first shook her head, as if to deny. However, a second later she changed her mind. Beckoning Harry to follow her, she entered her room.

The boy took a quick look around, having never been inside Ginny's room before. He didn't exactly expect it to be girlish, knowing Ginny could be pretty tough when she needed to, but was still surprised to see how much her room resembled Ron's.

Similarly to her brother, she had decorated the room with multiple posters of her favorite Quidditch team and even her bed sheets had its logo on it. For Ron it was the Chudley Cannons. His sister, however, apparently favoured the all-female Holyhead Harpies.

"What do you want to talk about, Harry?" Ginny asked as she sat down on her bed, a pensive look on her face.

The boy was confused for a second. There was only one thing to talk about, right? Nevertheless, he decided to pay the girl's question no attention.

"I just wanted to know how you feel after hearing Fleur's story. I know you thought about Riddle." Harry said, to which Ginny nodded affirmatively.

"I did. It was just… too similar."

Ginny had folded her legs in front of her and rested her chin on her knees. Harry went to sit on Hermione's bed by the window. It was a bit lower, meaning his eyes were on the same level as Ginny's.

"I never used to think about what Riddle did to me when I was younger. I would just try to forget." the girl confessed.

"But after the recent events…after you came out of that maze with Cedric's body… he comes back in my dreams, Harry. Taunting me from his diary, locking me in the Chamber again..."

Ginny buried her head in her knees, upset from the memory. When she looked back at Harry, the light of the setting sun shone at him reflected from her glassy eyes.

"He's in my dreams too. Almost every night actually." Harry admitted.

"There's nothing we can do about it, Ginny, not really. We can't control our dreams. We can only stay strong and remember it's all in the past now."

His encouragement brought back some colour to her pale cheeks.

"I know, but still… when Lupin told us about the Masked Ones… about all those people who went through the same as I did… I couldn't help it, it came back to me all of a sudden." she said, trembling slightly. Noticing that, Harry passed her a blanket from Hermione's bed. She nodded her gratitude as she wrapped herself with it.

"Sorry if I made you worry too much." she apologised.

"Don't. It's not your fault. We were all bothered by that story." Harry replied, dwelling on his thoughts from earlier. Despair filled him again as he wondered what's the point in fighting Voldemort if there were dozens like him around the world.

"What about you, Harry? You seem shaken too." Ginny noticed.

The boy was about to deny it. Back on the staircase, he had wanted to keep these thoughts to himself. He had only come with Ginny to help her, not to receive help himself. Now he wasn't certain he wanted to keep a secret though.

Of course, he could also discuss it with Ron, Hermione and Sirius later. He was sure his friends and his godfather would rekindle the hope in him again, give him back his fighting spirit. However, Harry knew he shouldn't wait. The thoughts would just fester inside him, filling him with even more despair. He needed to share them now and Ginny was there for him.

"Everything seemed so clear before, but now I have no idea what to do." he began.

"I knew what I had to do when it was only Voldemort, and thought defeating him would be the end of this. I was wrong. There are others, Ginny, and I can't defeat them all. What should I do now? What difference does it make if I defeat Voldemort, when there are still all these Dark Wizards left? "

"What difference? Do you really mean that, Harry?" the girl asked, taken aback.

"For a start, if not for you I wouldn't be here today. Sirius wouldn't be either. Don't only look to the future, look at your past too. Look at everything that you've achieved. You ask too much of yourself, Harry. You already make a difference, no matter what happens next."

Harry smiled, finally relieved. Ginny's words were just what he needed to hear. They had reminded him that this fight was worth fighting, that no matter how big or small his contribution, it was all relevant in the end.

"Thank you, Ginny." he replied with appreciation.

"Thanks too, Harry." she responded. The two stood in an awkward silence for a few moments, neither of them wanting to leave the conversation on a serious note. Finally, Harry broke the silence.

"Any chance you go easy on Fleur from now on?" he asked, smiling mischievously, already anticipating her answer.

"When Skrewts fly. That Phlegm will have to work her way into our family!"

The two chuckled together at the girl's words.

"Good night, Ginny." Harry said as he got up and headed for the door.

"Good night, Harry. "she replied from her bed.

"Oh, and one last thing." he turned as he was crossing the threshold. The girl looked at him inquisitively.

"When we get back to Hogwarts, don't go telling Hagrid about the flying skrewts. He might take your word for it."

Ginny's laughter echoed in the staircase as Harry climbed back upstairs to Ron's room.

 **A/N:** Sorry for the delay and thank you for the patience! The plot finally thickens a bit and I think I did a good Harry/Ginny moment (I just love those two, they're so cute when they are still unsure about their feelings and fumbling around each other). As you have probably guessed, Le Ombre will be this story's villain and I will develop Harry and Ginny's relationship in this fic.

In the next chapter we'll finally get to Hogwarts, and you're in for a big surprise. I won't spoil it, you'll have to wait another day or two until I post it. Bye for now!


	6. The Experimenter

**Chapter 6: The Experimenter**

All nice things must come to an end, and so did Harry's summer. Ginny's birthday passed as well, then a week later each of the kids got their Hogwarts letter. It surprised nobody but Hermione that she had been made a Prefect this year.

"I hoped I would be one, but I couldn't be sure until now." the girl explained to everyone at breakfast.

"I mean, there are a lot more responsible people in Gryffindor than me..." here she was interrupted by Ron's loud snort, which nearly caused him to spill milk on his robes. When the girl looked at him menacingly, he hurried to swallow the milk and defend himself:

"Come on, Hermione, everybody expected it. And if you find one more responsible person in Gryffindor than you, I'd eat a hatful of Nosebleed Nougat."

"Normally, I'd bet you on that, Ron, we really need someone to test it on. " Fred said, taking advantage of the fact their mum was busy in the kitchen.

"Yes, if only there was the slim chance for you to be wrong. He's right, Hermione. Don't act surprised." George added. The curly-haired girl blushed at the praise.

That day everybody (except Sirius, he said he still wasn't quite ready to appear at public places) took a trip to Diagon Ally to get new books, robes and potions supplies.

After buying it, Harry couldn't help but notice how thin the new Defence against the Dark Arts book was. It was more of a manual than a schoolbook as well. After sharing that with Ron, the two wondered if that meant they'd be getting more practical lessons this year, like they had during their third year.

Hermione was the first to notice a weird new tendency in almost all shops they entered. No matter whether one entered Olivander's, Quality Quidditch Supplies or a bookstore, each shop offered a French-English dictionary related to their respective field.

"Do you think we're getting another international event this year?" Hermione wondered.

"So soon after the Tournament? I doubt it." Harry replied, thinking how because of the disastrous turn of events at the Tournament Britain would probably an undesired host for that kind of events for at least a few years.

"Maybe we're starting French? But they didn't say anything about that in our letters!" the girl exclaimed, frantically searching her handbag for the letter to check again.

"Probably not. We don't even have English." Harry remarked.

"English? Why would you want to study English when you know it already?" Ron asked, befuddled. Harry and Hermione spent the next half an hour explaining him all about Muggle schools and what they studied there.

"Those are some bloody weird subjects if you ask me." he told his friends, while everybody was walking back with their purchases to the Leaky Cauldron, from which they would floo back to the Burrow.

* * *

Almost two weeks passed, in which many games of Quidditch and Tri-legged Tournaments had been lost and won, and it was finally September the 1st again. A part of Harry was feeling sad that this amazing summer had ended, never to return, but another was excited to finally go back to Hogwarts again.

Sirius and Lupin decided to escort Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys to Platform 9 and ¾. Sirius was eager to see if the place had changed since his own trips to Hogwarts.

"Just the same as we remember it, old friend!" Lupin exclaimed once he passed the barrier and stepped onto the Platform, closely followed by Sirius in his dog form. Harry's godfather still wanted to remain anonymous, especially on a busy day like that.

The animagus was right about that: the day was quite busy with parents taking their good-byes with their children and getting them on the train. Panicked first-years shot around like rockets, followed by their frantic mothers and fathers, while older students greeted their friends from afar and gathered to discuss how they had spent the summer.

As they were a little late, Harry, Hermione and the Weasley kids barely had time to get themselves and their luggage on the train before the whistle sounded and the wheels were set in motion. They all hurried to a window and waved back at Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Percy, Bill and Lupin. Harry couldn't see Sirius anywhere, neither in his dog nor his human form, and was a bit sad he'd missed the train leave.

However, he soon found he had a more pressing issue to worry about. The train was stuffed like never before and not a single compartment seemed to be empty. Hermione had no trouble with that, as she left soon, heading for the Prefects' compartment where she knew she had a seat. She promised to meet the others at Hogsmeade Station. Fred and George also lucked out, as Lee Jordan and Angelina Johnson had dropped a Dung Bomb in one of the compartments, saving the twins two seats at the cost of having to spend the entire trip to Hogwarts with a Bubble Head Charm on.

This only left Harry, Ron and Ginny without seats. Almost certain they'd spend the whole ride on the train standing up, they made their way to the back to the train. There, to their great surprise, they found the entire last car of the train unoccupied.

The three looked around suspiciously. The compartment right next to them was jammed with six people. Why had an entire car been left empty, while the rest of the train was bursting at the seams?

"I don't like this." Harry said as he brought out his wand and pressed the handle to open the door leading to the empty car.

"Wait, you aren't actually thinking about going in there, right?" Ron asked incredulously.

"What choice do we have, Ron, all the other compartments are full." Ginny replied.

The moment Harry entered the car he realised why everybody had been avoiding it. He suddenly felt as if his weight had quadrupled and was pulling him down to the ground. Funny thing was, he actually felt himself being pulled down too, until his head was merely three feet from the ground.

"What happened to me?" he asked frightened as he turned back to his friends. Ron's eyes had turned the size of saucers and Ginny also seemed pretty shocked, although a traitorous grin indicated she also found Harry's transformation quite funny. Finally she couldn't hold it in anymore and burst out laughing, ignoring the offended looks Ron threw her.

"Don't get mad, Harry, but you look like an oversized toad." she told him, tears of mirth welling up in the corners of her eyes. When Harry walked back to the other car, he felt his weight return to normal and his body extend to its usual height again.

"That was horrible, mate." Ron told him, sighing with relief as he saw his friend revert back to his standard proportions.

"How horrible?" Harry asked.

"See for yourself." Ginny replied as she pushed her brother with all her strength, sending him straight into the jinxed car. As Harry watched Ron shrink too, he soon joined Ginny in her laughter. The spell indeed had a quite comical effect: instead of shrinking Ron proportionally, it just squashed him until he was three feet tall too, giving him the appearance of an extremely fat goblin.

"Oi! It's not funny, shut it you two!" Ron said as he stepped back into the other car, growing back to normal.

"OK, your turn now." Harry turned to Ginny.

"Fine, we'll have to sit in that car anyways, even if we have to spend the trip as fat toads." the girl replied as she entered the jinxed car, followed by Harry and a reluctant Ron. Soon 3 obese goblins trudged along the corridor. They were about to sit in the compartment closest to the entrance to the other car, but heard some voices from the end of the train and decided to investigate. To their surprise, as they walked towards the end of the corridor and the door leading to the last compartment, they felt themselves growing again. By the time they reached that door, all of them were back to normal.

In the last compartment, which was quite spacious, as it spanned the whole car, the trio came upon the two most unusual wizards they had ever seen.

The first one was a pale girl that looked about as old as Ginny but had dirty blond hair. One could immeadiately tell there was something odd about her, maybe because she'd carelessly tucked her wand behind her ear like a pencil and was sporting a pair of neon pink sunglasses with bottle green frames. As she laid down the magazine she was reading to look at the newcomers, Harry saw she also wore what seemed to be a turnip necklace.

The second was a brown-haired man somewhere in his mid-thirties, whose attire was a mind-boggling mixture of Muggle clothing styles that clashed horribly. He wore beige tweed trousers, which suggested he was going for a smart, official look. However, he combined it with a " _Weird Sisters"_ T-Shirt and a leather jacket along with that. His bare feet were clad in sandals.

As he heard the kids enter, he spun around to face them, his shoulder-length braid swinging in a wide arc. Now Harry saw he was also wearing a turnip, only he had tied his on a string going around his forehead.

"Hello!" he greeted them, smiling widely.

"And sorry for the shrink! I was trying to show young Miss Lovegood here how to turn a cup into a plate by tinkering a bit with the Gravity Charm and the Deformation Jinx, but I kind of miscalculated my range, didn't I? Arithmancy was never my strong suit, you know." he smiled apologetically.

"I'll try again with this Dirigible plume, that should help with readjusting the focus." he said, motioning to the turnip on his forehead. Then he turned his attention back to the small cup on the table by the window he had been staring at when Harry, Ron and Ginny had entered. Swinging his wand over his head in a bizarre fashion, unlike any wand movement Harry had learnt so far, the odd man spoke an incantation:

" _Compressum Gravity Mollio Hyfryd!"_

Judging by the weird spell, Harry didn't expect the porcelain cup to be affected at all. To his great surprise, it actually compressed and distended when the spell was cast, almost flattening into a plate. However, a second before transforming fully, it shattered loudly, sending shards flying in every direction.

"Not malleable enough, should strengthen the Malleability Charm's component." the boy heard the man talking to himself as he gathered the shards from the floor. Meanwhile, the blond girl had taken off her glasses and was smiling to Ginny.

"Hello, Ginny." she greeted with a dreamy sort of voice.

"Hi, Luna." the redhead replied, before turning to Harry and Ron to introduce the girl.

"Harry, Ron, this is Luna Lovegood, a friend from Ravenclaw. Luna, these are my brother Ron and our friend Harry Potter."

"Delightful to finally meet you, Ronald." the girl said as she shook hands with Ron.

"Ginny's told me much about you."

"Like what?" the boy asked, narrowing his eyes suspiciously at his sister, who winced at the Ravenclaw's honesty.

"Your irrational fear of arachnids, for example. They're very useful creatures, you know. Nargles steer clear of them." the girl pointed out, before she turned to face the other boy.

"Harry Potter." the girl spoke with an even voice.

"Luna Lovegood." Harry replied, not sure how to properly answer, though apparently that was sufficient for Luna. She gave a slight nod and returned to her seat, hiding behind her magazine again.

"Sorry about that cup! That spell apparently doesn't work on brittle objects." the adult man replied, finally getting up from the floor, having gathered all the cup pieces. After he'd left them on the table and cast the Repairing Charm, reassembling the cup again, the man abruptly turned around, startling everybody but Luna, and slapped himself on the forehead.

"How rude! I've yet to introduce myself. Percival Ortington, at your service." he said, bowing slightly.

"I'll be teaching some at Hogwarts this year."

"What material will we cover in Defence against the Dark Arts this year, Professor?" Ron asked, assuming that the new teacher was their Defence teacher, an assumption that was by now natural for most Hogwarts students. With the jinx on the position unlikely to be lifted anytime soon, it was a likely guess any new teacher coming to the castle would teach Defence.

"Oh, I can't really say. That's for your Defence teacher to decide." Ortington replied, taking Harry, Ron and Ginny by surprise.

"So you're not our Defence teacher?" the girl asked, taken aback a bit.

"Thank Merlin, no. I've always been horrible at that! Too many rules and counter-jinxes to memorise. No, I'll be teaching an Experimental Magic extracurricular class."

"Extracurricular class?" Ron asked, confused, almost at the same time as Harry said: "Experimental magic?"

"I'll start with your question." the teacher looked at Ron.

"Yes, an extracurricular class. That means participation is optional and doesn't necessarily fit into the regular schedule, much like Quidditch practice."

"And now about the class itself. My goal with it would be to give you a little insight on a side of magic that isn't really explored in regular classes much. There it's all about using the correct spell, the right pronunciation, the proper wand movement, when in my line of work I've found out that these are mostly irrelevant."

Harry grinned as he imagined what Hermione's outraged reaction would be upon hearing this.

"Let me ask you something." Professor Ortington said as he sat himself on a seat next to Luna, while Harry, Ron and Ginny sat themselves on the opposite bench.

"Did you do any magic before you got your wands?"

Both Weasleys and Harry nodded.

"There!" the odd wizard exclaimed.

"Undeniable proof that proper spells aren't the key. Will and imagination are, and with enough of both, you can figure out a spell to do almost anything."

"So you created the spell you just used?" Harry asked, a bit awestruck. Up until now he had believed that since it was never taught at school, creating your own spells was something only very powerful wizards like Dumbledore were able to do. However, if what Professor Ortington was saying was correct, Harry thought, it was actually probably within his scope. It also sounded pretty interesting.

"Of course. I doubt anybody has seen the need for a cup-compressing spell before, so nobody created it. I needed that spell, so I did." the adult wizard explained, as if it were the simplest thing in the world, making your own spells. This got Harry even more optimistic.

"When's your first class, Professor?" the boy asked with interest. Ron threw a puzzled sideways glance at him, then leaned closer to Ginny to murmur something in her ear.

"No, I haven't seen Hermione brewing Polyjuice Potion lately. Also, I'm sure Harry would notice if any of his hair was missing." the girl said out loud.

Ginny and Harry spent most of the trip asking their new professor questions about his subject and what he had in store for them for the first few lessons. The prospect of crafting their own custom spells appealed to them both. At first Ron just threw them disbelieving glances, still quite convinced they had been both hexed by Hermione. However, after the professor told them about some of the more practical spells he'd created, like the Pillow Cooling Charm, and then demonstrated some of them, Ron's interest was caught as well.

"Merlin's beard, look at the time!" the professor exclaimed about midway through his story about his Propeller Charm.

"We should be at Hogwarts in about fifteen minutes! I have to change and so do you!" he said as he stood up and headed for the door, his suitcase trailing in the air behind him.

"Nice chat. I hope to see you all at my first lesson; I will try to pick a date for it during the first week. Have fun at the feast!" the wizard bid his farewell.

Harry, Ron, Ginny and Luna took his advice and decided to change into their school robes, the boys taking one for the team and moving to the adjacent compartment, which was still affected by Ortington's Compression spell. It took them quite a bit of time to change in their compressed state, so by the time they were ready, the train had stopped at Hogsmeade Station and students were already getting out. Joined by the girls, Harry and Ron hurried to get out of the cursed car.

Once they were out on the platform and the chill night air engulfed them, the boys looked around, hoping to spot Hagrid's familiar towering figure. However, the gamekeeper was nowhere to be seen. Instead, it was a witch with a prominent chin who was herding the first-years this time. Harry recognised her as Professor Grubbly-Plank, the Care for Magical Creatures substitute teacher.

"Where's Hagrid? Do you reckon he's ill or something?" the boy asked with concern. Hagrid couldn't have been sacked over the summer, could he?

"I don't know mate. Maybe he's breeding a new batch of Blast-Ended Skrewts?" Ron supposed, before an all-too-familiar drawl could be heard from behind him:

"I sure hope so, Weasley. I hope the Ministry catches him this time and finally sacks him. I've had enough of this incompetent oaf."

"Shut up, Malfoy." Harry replied angrily as he turned to face the Slytherin boy. Draco just smirked unpleasantly.

"Watch it there, Potter, unless you want Gryffindor to start the House Cup with negative points this year." he warned, caressing his Prefect badge. Ron sighed with exasperation at the sight of it, knowing it was going to be a tough year.

"Jealous, Weasley? I bet your mum would sell your house for that much silver." the Slytherin jeered. Anticipating his friend's reaction, Harry spread out his arm just as Ron, crimson in the face, tried to charge Malfoy.

"He's not worth it, Ron, leave him alone." Harry tried to convince him as Malfoy laughed unpleasantly, joined by Pansy Parkinson and his cronies Crabbe and Goyle. Meanwhile, Hermione had finally seen her friends and was weaving her way to them through the crowd. Noticing that, Malfoy grinned even wider:

"I wonder, who decided the Mudblood should be a Prefect too?" he spoke in a stage whisper that carried over the whole platform, accompanied by Pansy's shrill giggle.

Noticing the blush on Hermione's face, Harry fumed. Still holding Ron with his left arm, he reached for his wand with the right, but thought better of it. He knew that no matter how the duel ended Draco would walk away unscathed and Harry would end up in detention with Snape and he didn't want to chance missing the experimental magic class. Therefore, he mused for a second before coming up with another good idea.

"Still a fan of Rita Skeeter, are you, Malfoy, after she brought out the skeletons from your father's closet for all to see?" Harry yelled at him.

At once, Malfoy's grin devolved into an ugly frown. Unlike Harry, he didn't hesitate to draw his wand and quickly pointed it at his enemy.

"You keep quiet about my father, Potter." he shot back, angrily.

Harry was just about to ask Draco if he and Rita were still pen pals, when Hermione finally came through.

"10 points from Slytherin, duels aren't allowed outside of class!" she proclaimed.

"Come on." she urged Harry, Ron and Ginny, ignoring Pansy's imitation of her. The three could barely keep up with her quick stride as she hurried to get away from the Slytherins, their unpleasant laughs still audible behind them.

When they reached the carriages Harry was surprised to find them strapped to pairs of dark horses unlike any magical creatures the boy had seen before. Well, they resembled horses slightly, but he had to admit there was something distinctively reptilian about them. They were deathly gaunt, each of their bones etched into their dark coat. Vast, bat-like wings protruded from their backs, the skeletal frame clearly visible under the tightly-spread skin. As he passed one of the carriages, one of the creatures turned around to look at Harry. He shivered at the sight of its unblinking milky-white eyes without any pupils, set into a head that reminded Harry a bit of the Hungarian Horntail he had faced last year. What was arguably the scariest thing about those spectral beings was that none of them made as much as a sound, standing still in the encroaching darkness.

"Do you think there is something wrong with the Pulling Charm?" he asked, confused. As far as he could remember, the carriages had never needed anything to pull them before, propelling themselves forward magically.

"What do you mean, Harry?" Hermione asked back distractedly as she kept looking for a carriage empty enough to fit their party of four. Most were full or near full already.

"Why would they use these horses instead?" the boy replied, looking at the creatures with curiosity now that the initial shock had subsided.

"What horses, Harry?" Ginny raised her eyebrow. Meanwhile, Hermione had finally found a near-empty carriage, so the group quickly gathered around her.

"These ones right here!" he pointed at the pair of skeletal horses in front of their carriage, who were currently staring at him with their big lidless eyes.

"You're pointing at air, Harry. I see nothing there." Ron told him, looking right at the creatures, but unfocused, as if he wasn't seeing them.

Harry was taken aback. Why could only he see the horses? That made no sense. He remembered the last time something like that had happened, when in his second year he heard voices nobody else could. Back then, the whole school had turned against him, as it turned out he was a Parselmouth, which was a mark of a Dark Wizard. He frowned at the creatures, wondering if the fact that only he was seeing them was another condemning mark.

"Are you feeling OK, Harry?" Ginny asked, with a subtle note of concern in her voice. Just as Harry was about to pretend he was just tired and was probably imagining things, a dirty blonde head popped out from the inside of the carriage and observed him with great curiosity.

"Don't worry. I see them too. You're just as sane as I am, Harry Potter." Luna Lovegood proclaimed as she retreated back inside the carriage. While Harry was wondering what to make out of her statement exactly, Ginny slowly walked to the front of the carriage, with her arms spread wide in front of her. Hermione observed her, bemusement written on her face.

"Come on now, Ginny, you don't actually think Harry and Loony... um, _Luna_ , see creatures the rest of us can't?" she asked her skeptically.

"Who knows?" the younger girl replied cryptically, a small trace of anger at Hermione's insult towards her friend detectable in her voice. While Ginny continued slowly approaching the skeletal horses, Harry went over to Ron to ask him something.

"What did Hermione mean, Loony?" he whispered. Ron shifted around uncomfortably and looked with a guilty look towards his sister. Noticing she wasn't looking at them, he leaned in closer to Harry.

"Well, the Lovegoods have a bit of an... _odd_ way of thinking and expressing themselves. They are just a bit too strange even by wizard standards."

'That's saying something.' Harry thought, remembering the many bizarre witches and wizards he'd seen on Diagon Ally through the years.

"What do you mean exactly, odd way of thinking?" the boy asked.

"Have you never picked up a " _Quibler_ "?" Ron asked back. When his friend shook his head, he continued:

"You'll see what I mean when you read one. Anyway, Ginny likes Luna, but her, well, dottiness hasn't made her very popular, if you know what I mean."

A frown formed on Harry's face. He knew exactly what Ron was talking about. He knew what it felt like, being bullied because one was an outcast. Dudley had made sure of that during elementary school, when any kid who made friends with Harry was later mercilessly chased by his cousin's gang, until nobody in the school wanted to be friends with him again. He felt sympathy for Luna and was unpleasantly surprised Hermione was supporting the bullying. When he shot her a reprimanding look, the girl nodded apologetically and came over to him and Ron.

"Sorry, Harry. Please don't think I like making fun of Luna. It's just... nobody calls her by her name when she's not there. It just got imprinted in my brain after a while. I've tried to stop them, you know, but they wouldn't listen. Maybe now that I'm a Prefect..." she mused. Harry smiled. Now that sounded more like Hermione Granger.

Suddenly, a shriek pierced the damp night air. Drawing his wand quickly, Harry turned around, only to find out Ginny had bumped into one of the skeletal horses, almost hugging its head. The horse seemed a bit bewildered at the girl's sudden affection and expressed his surprise with a loud snort, which in turn startled Ron and Hermione.

"Blimey, Harry, you were right!" the redhead exclaimed as he seated himself next to his friend in the carriage. The girls tried to sit on the opposite bench, but no matter how hard they tried, it wouldn't fit three. Hermione and Ginny were both starting to get a little out of breath, while Luna simply sat on the end of the bench and observed them like they were some interesting magical creatures. In the end, Harry decided the trip to Hogwarts wasn't that long, so he got up, leaving his spot free for Hermione.

"Ron's right. I know we heard _something_ there." she agreed with her friend.

"Do you mean the thestrals?" Luna asked her. Harry noted how Hermione's eyes instantly widened with recognition. Apparently she had heard of those magical creatures.

"But what _are_ thestrals?" Ron, on the other hand, was as oblivious as Harry. Both could see Hermione was already winding up to deliver a detailed answer.

"They look like big horses, except they're all bony and snakey, and they have these big bat wings." Luna replied. The boys chuckled as they saw the slightly disappointed look on Hermione's face when she didn't get to deliver her explanation. She noticed that, so they both earned light punches in their arms.

"They are really nice when you get to know them. Too bad people don't like them much." Luna went on. "They think they are a bad omen."

"Why would they think that?" Harry asked. While it was true that he had been a bit frightened by their shocking appearance when he first saw them, now Harry knew they were more like timid horses than the dragon-tempered beasts their appearance suggested them to be. So why would anybody think a timid horse was a bad omen?

"Most people can't see them. Only those who have seen death can." Luna explained nonchalantly.

The next few moments passed in silence. Ron and Hermione threw Harry compassionate glances, knowing what their friend was thinking of.

"I see. That explains it." the boy replied, forcing himself to remain calm and trying to suppress the memory of Cedric's cold, senseless body lying on the graveyard lawn.

* * *

Conversation came to a screeching halt after that and the five spent their trip to Hogwarts in silence. Unable to break the loop, Harry just kept thinking about what had happened that faithful night even after he'd sat at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. It was painful for him to recall these memories, but he felt that trying to suppress them was doing Cedric's memory a dishonour.

Even the Sorting of the first-years couldn't bring him out of his dark mood. It was not until Hermione shook him forcefully that he finally left his brooding state.

"Harry, look at the teachers' table!" the girl exclaimed. Looking in the direction his friend was pointing in, Harry gasped, pleasantly surprised. Just near the end of the teachers' table sat one Remus Lupin, trying to ignore the murmurs that could be heard from the Slytherins' table and the pointed glares Snape was sending in his direction from the other end of the table. Apparently though he was also keeping one eye on the hall, since he quickly met Harry's gaze, smiled and raised his hand in greeting.

"Do you think he's coming back for this year?" the boy asked, excitedly.

"I sure hope so. He's the best Defence against the Dark Arts teacher we've ever had!" said Seamus Finnigan, who was sitting next to Harry.

"Well, Moody also taught nice, didn't he?" interjected Dean Thomas, who was seated on the other side of Seamus.

"Yes, but he wasn't Moody, was he? Still don't get how Dumbledore didn't realise we were being taught by a bloody Death Eater for a whole yeaaargh." Ron objected, while trying to bite off half a chicken drumstick. Hermione observed him with a slightly disgusted look.

"Wha'?" the boy tried to defend himself, his mouth still quite full. After he swallowed, he resumed:

"I've got to build bulk this year. I'm no good for a Keeper like that."

"You want to try for Keeper, Ron?" Harry asked, surprised. It was news to him that his friend wanted to get on the team, though it kind of explained his weird behaviour when they talked about the upcoming school quidditch season over the summer.

"Yes, sorry for keeping you in the dark, Harry. I wanted to surprise you."

"Good luck, Ron! We do need a new keeper, now that Oliver is gone." Harry remarked. His friend had actually lucked out. If not for the Triwizard Tournament, Oliver Wood would have been replaced on the team a year ago already.

"Are you any good as a Keeper though? We can't break our win streak, or the Slytherins will get snide about it." Seamus leaned in, having overheard Ron.

The Weasley was about to answer when Professor Dumbledore stood up and vanished all the leftovers from the golden plates with a flick of his wand. All students turned to hear his welcome speech. Harry tensed up. Would Dumbledore finally provide information on Voldemort's plans, information he'd withheld from Harry for the whole summer?

"Good evening to you all, and welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for another year of your magical education!" the headmaster greeted.

"Now before you get some well-deserved rest after what I'm sure was a tiring day for us all, I've got a few announcements to make. First, to all first-years and some of our older students who seem to have short memories, I remind that entering the Forbidden Forest is strictly forbidden. Also, as Mr. Filch kindly reminded me, the possession and use of certain items is considered illegal on school grounds. The interested can find the full list in his office.

Now to more important matters. This year, Hogwarts will be home to an event the likes of which have never been seen before."

A murmur spread quickly through the students, the words "Another tournament?" reverbrating from the walls.

"Me and Madam Maxime, who I am sure you all remember fondly, have decided that this year Hogwarts and Beauxbatons Academy of Magic will be hosting a student exchange programme between the two schools that will last for a year."

At these words, the Great Hall basically exploded with discussion. While he stood still, indicating his speech wasn't finished, Dumbledore smiled and remained silent, allowing to students to discuss among themselves for a minute.

"An exchange with Beauxbatons! Can you imagine all the new spells we could learn there?" Hermione turned to her friends, overflowing with enthusiasm.

"That's why they had all these dictionaries for sale on Diagon Alley! Wonder if they'll be teaching in French there?" Harry wondered.

"Probably not. I've heard Spanish and Dutch wizards also attend it, and they can't all know French. Maybe it's just for easier communication between students." the curly haired girl speculated. She was about to continue talking, but noticed the Headmaster had raised his hands. After a few moments the whole hall quieted down and Dumbledore resumed his speech.

"Twenty-five boys and twenty-five girls from each school may participate. You have until the first of October to file your applications. You will be travelling in Madam Maxime's flying carriage, with which our international friends will arrive. You will be accompanied by Professor Sinistra, so turn to her with any questions you might have. Note that the exchange is only open to students doing their second, third, fourth or sixth year."

A lot of dissapointment could be heard from fifth and seventh years all around the hall. Hermione also looked down in the dumps.

"That's a pretty weird requirement, don't you think, Harry?" Ron asked. His friend nodded. Even though Harry didn't plan on going even if the exchange had been open to students of their year, he still found it illogical that only students of a certain year could participate.

"No, it's reasonable actually." Hermione objected, having somewhat recovered from her severe disappointment.

"It makes sense that Hogwarts first-years should learn the basics here, Beauxbatons has a totally different system and it will be hard to adapt later. As for fifth and seventh years, we've got O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s at the end of the year, so we can't skip that. Still, it would have been nice going to Beauxbatons for a year." the girl mumbled, some of the disappointment creeping back into her voice.

"Don't worry Hermione, maybe next year." Harry said, trying to cheer her up, even though he wasn't sure whether the exchange would be held next year as well. Meanwhile, Dumbledore had begun speaking once again:

"And finally, it's time to announce the new members of our staff. First up, welcome professor Percival Ortington, who will be teaching an extracurricular Experimental Magic class this year for all who wish to attend."

The experimenter got up, clumsily knocking a wine glass over Professor Flitwick in the process. He waved around briefly, but Harry, Ron, Ginny and Luna were the only ones to applaud him. A bit disheartened, he quickly sat back down and turned to Flitwick to apologise.

"Defence against the Dark Arts will this year be taught by..." Dumbledore continued. All eyes were on Lupin now. He shuffled nervously in his seat, before he caught Harry looking at him. A small grin on his face, he shook his head.

"... Professor Sirius Black."

The Great Hall was as silent as a graveyard. All students stood still and observed Dumbledore in shock.

Therefore, the sound of the side door to the Hall opening echoed through the air loud as the shot of a cannon. Out came Sirius, sauntering over to Dumbledore. After he shook his hand, he headed to Lupin's end of the table and sat himself next to his school friend. Noticing Harry's bewildered face among the crowd, his godfather grinned like a cat.

* * *

 **A/N:** I hope Sirius being the new DADA teacher wasn't a too obvious twist. In the next chapter you'll get to see him teaching. You'll also see how Ginny miraculously saves Harry from Professor Trelawney! The new chapter will be coming out in a day or two, as per usual.


	7. Professor Sirius Black

**Chapter 7: Professor Sirius Black**

A lot of questions swarmed inside Harry's head as Dumbledore dismissed the students and they all rose up from their chairs, gathering to head back to the dorms. The boy had to ask Sirius most of his questions, like how in the name of Merlin he had decided to become a professor without giving Harry any hint. However, he decided he could ask those later. Now he had something more important to discuss with the headmaster.

"Professor Dumbledore!" the boy called for him as he went to leave. Hearing his name, the headmaster turned around.

"Ah, hello Harry. Enjoying the evening so far?" he asked politely.

"Yes, sir. I just wanted to ask you something."

"I'm sure you can discuss your godfather's appointment with him at length in the coming days. If I'm not mistaken, you even have classes with him tomorrow morning. Now if you will please excuse me..."

"It's not about Sirius, sir." Harry told the professor. Recognising the serious look on the boy's face, Dumbledore nodded.

"Very well, follow me to my office then."

After a brief detour to the Gryffindor table to tell Ron and Hermione where he was going, Harry followed Dumbledore out of the Great Hall and up to the third floor. The two were soon standing in front of the stone gargoyle that guarded the entrance to the headmaster's office.

"Sugar quills." Dumbledore said. At once, the stone figure leapt aside, allowing them passage through the corridor behind it. A few moments later, the headmaster was seated behind his desk while Harry sat on a chair in front of it, marveling at Fawkes the Phoenix for a few moments before remembering what he had come for.

"Sir, I can't help but wonder what Voldemort is up to these days. I didn't hear anything about him all summer long." at this point Harry looked into Dumbledore's eyes, a little accusingly.

"It's been almost three months since he returned. How many Death Eaters has he gathered? What are his plans? When is he going to attack?" Harry shot his questions in a rapid succession. In response, Dumbledore just smiled. He seemed genuinely happy about something. The silence dragged on for a moment too long and Harry's anger was amassing quickly. Luckily, Dumbledore finally spoke up:

"Surprising as it may seem, Harry, it's because nothing has happened so far. Both the Ministry's and my informants report Voldemort is into hiding. He has not made any moves since his battle with you in June, Harry."

The boy was dumbfounded. Why had Voldemort backed down, now that he was finally back at his full power?

"Sir, I'm afraid I don't understand. How can this be true? I mean, why did he spend the whole last year planning his return only to sit around and do nothing?"

"I'm sure that wasn't his plan initially, Harry. In fact, it's you who sabotaged his plan again." the old wizard replied, still smiling kindly. Noticing Harry's confusion, he continued.

"You see, Harry, Voldemort knows Fudge well. He anticipated the Minister would rather turn a blind eye than admit he was back. And so he planned his next moves based on that, thinking he would be playing from the shadows. However, you put a spoke in his wheel. I showed the Minister your recollection of the evnts that transpired in Little Hangleton. That was proof he couldn't deny. Thus the Ministry and the public became aware that Voldemort had returned way sooner than he anticipated. He has not yet amassed his forces, so he can't deal with any potential retaliation from the Aurors. Thus he took his only available option. He retreated to reconsider his plans."

Harry stared at his headmaster with a blank expression. It felt almost surreal, hearing that Voldemort wasn't a threat.

"But what about later, sir? When he strikes again?" the boy objected. Still smiling benevolently, Dumbledore replied to that too.

"I wouldn't worry about that too much if I were you, Harry. He'll need months to get ready, and when he is, so will be the Ministry. He can't infiltrate it like he did last time; every witch and wizard is on high alert. Additionally, I'm also reassembling an old group I started back during Voldemort's first reign. We will combine forces with the Aurors and pool our knowledge. Together, I think we shall be more than a challenge for him."

Anticipating Harry's question from the look on his face, Dumbledore replied to it before the boy had even asked.

"No, Harry, you can't become a member of my group. You are far too young."

"So... what should I do now, Professor?" Harry asked, confused beyond measure.

"Whatever you please, Harry. If I were you though, I would try to enjoy this year to its full extent. As you're probably tired of hearing, school is the greatest time of our lives, time to make friends, learn new things and maybe even fall in love." the old wizard winked at Harry.

"I know you are used to your burden by now, but for once, it is off your back. Enjoy the break while it lasts, Harry. Who knows what the future holds. Good night."

* * *

"Bollocks! You-Know-Who's hiding? You must have given him one hell of a scare, Harry!" Ron exclaimed. He and Hermione had been waiting for their friend in the Gryffindor common room, eager to hear what he and the headmaster had discussed. Both were equally amazed to hear that for the time being Voldemort posed no threat.

"Maybe I'll finally have a normal school year." Harry joked after he and Ron had said their "Good night!" to Hermione and climbed up the stairs to the boys' dorm.

"You know, without two-faced wizards, giant snakes, rat-men or dragons trying to kill me."

"And spiders. Don't forget the spiders." Ron told him as the two laughed quietly while they changed for bed.

As Harry lied down, he sighed blissfully. For once, he didn't have any threat lloming over his head. He was free to think about about the things normal students did- his upcoming lessons, the Quidditch Cup and... why was he thinking about Ginny all of a sudden? Confused, Harry shrugged it off in his mind, before closing his eyes and drifting into sleep that was devoid of any nightmares.

* * *

The first morning back at school began with Professor McGonagall handing everybody their schedules as usual. Meeting up with Hermione in the common room, Harry and Ron saw that their first subject for the day was Defence against the Dark Arts, as Dumbledore had predicted.

"Great, we'll be in Sirius's first lesson!" the girl noted. Harry cheered together with her. Knowing Sirius had no previous teaching experience (or did he? another thing Harry had to ask), the boy thought he'd appreciate their help in the beginning. His godfather could also use some tips on dealing with the Slytherins- even though Harry could hardly believe it, he was a bit worried about Draco Malfoy after everything he'd told the animagus about him and he didn't want Sirius to get sacked on his first week.

"What have you got afterwards? Mine's Ancient Runes." Hermione asked, peeking curiously at their schedules.

"Oh great, Divination!" Ron sighed, exasperated. Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown shot him cold looks across the room. They both worshipped Professor Trelawney. Personally, Harry wasn't a great fan of hers, but he felt less hesitant to go to her classes now that he wasn't threatened in any way for a change.

"And then double Herbology to round it off. Seems good for a first day." Hermione noted.

"It would have been perfect, if I didn't know Trelawney would be predicting my demise a few hours from now. What do you reckon it'll be this time?" Harry asked ironically. In responce, Ron widened his eyes, in an attempt to replicate the zooming effect of their professor's thick glasses, before he spoke, his voice a near-perfect imitation of Trelawney's mystical stage-whisper:

"Oooh, my poor boy, I only see suffering in your future. The unfortunate aspects of Saturn and Uranus have bestowed upon you eternal turmoil!"

This elicited chuckles from almost everybody in the room. Even McGonagall smiled magnanimously. Her dislike for her colleague's morbid and untrue predictions was secret to nobody. In fact, the only people not amused by Ron's display were Parvati and Lavender again.

The trio headed for the corridor leading to the staircase outside, hurrying to get to breakfast. As Harry, the last in line, moved through the portrait hole, he heard a voice behind his back calling him.

"Harry!"

Turning around, he saw it was Ginny, who was rushing to catch up to him. Stopping just behind him, she asked:

"I heard you have Divination today?"

"Yes."

"Good." she answered, puzzling Harry. As far as he knew, Ginny hadn't joined Parvati's and Lavender's Divination fan-club, so he wondered what the redhead meant exactly.

"I just wanted to share a trick with you. It got me pretty successfully through her classes last year. I think you know by now that the old beetle loves nothing more than ill omens?"

Harry nodded.

"So if you give them to her regularly, she leaves you alone. That's how I thought of my strategy. See, during my first lesson with her, I fell asleep... a bit."

Harry chuckled and Ginny glared at him with mock outrage.

"What? I needed sleep after the Quidditch World Cup! And you know what her room is like, all warm and stuffy." she protested, before laughing along with Harry.

"So anyways, for some reason she just let me sleep through the whole class. When recess came, she came over to ask me if I had had prophetic visions in my dreams. I made up something about Quidditch and she wasn't very happy. Next time I took a nap though I told her I would drown in the lake. You should have seen the look on her face, it was like Boxing Day for her."

Now Harry's chuckle evolved into a loud laugh that echoed through the school corridors.

"So what happens next?" he asked.

"Well, I just started catching up on sleep in her classes and giving her a new horrible story each time. It's never failed me so far."

Harry visibly brightened up. The day would turn out to be even better that way, he thought, getting some sleep instead of having to listen to Trelawney droning about his doom was like a dream come true.

"Thanks for the advice, Ginny. See you later!" he beamed at her before he rushed to catch up with Ron and Hermione.

During breakfast, after Harry told his friends about the method Ginny had devised (Hermione had scoffed, but Ron had congratulated his friend on discovering such a treasure), he and Ron decided to adapt it to a strategy that would benefit both of them. After all, they couldn't have the Weasley having prophetic dreams too, it would be too suspicious.

"So, how about this? I tell Trelawney I stayed at your place during the summer and caught Ginny's vision flu. I started falling into trances mid-sleep, mumbling in some incomprehensible language only you could understand, because you had deciphered it from Ginny's trances previously." Harry pitched his idea. Ron grinned from ear to ear.

"And I will be constantly on the lookout for you, waiting to decipher each of your visions. Brilliant, Harry!"

"Honestly, I don't know why you two don't swap it for some other subject, if Divination is so bad you have to sleep through it." Hermione spoke sternly.

"Well, it's not so bad, we still learn things there." Ron objected.

"Like what?" the girl asked, astounded. Harry had to agree with her, Divination was just guesswork and ill omens, nothing to be learned.

"Like how to write great fiction. You know, all the homework we did for Trelawney. Maybe with her help I can be the next Gilderoy Lockhart." Ron replied, grinning widely.

* * *

The three were waiting in front of the Defence against the Dark Arts classroom before anybody else came along. All of them could barely hold their excitement in.

"What do you think he's going to teach? Dark Creatures like Lupin? Or how to protect ourselves from dark magic, like Moody... er, Crouch." Ron wondered.

Harry pondered on that for a second. He was more willing to bet on the second, taking his godfather's rash nature into consideration. Dark creatures were a bit too... static for him.

"Well, why don't you come in and find out for yourselves?" a familiar voice asked. The three spun on their heels to find the door to the classroom open and Sirius standing in the doorway.

"How come you never told me about this?" Harry asked, happy, yet a little angry as well.

"To be honest, I didn't know I would be teaching up until a few days ago either." Sirius replied.

"On the day you went to Diagon Ally, Dumbledore came to visit me at the Burrow. Said he couldn't find a Defence teacher this year and the Ministry was going to appoint some old hag called Umbridge. He didn't want her here, and I knew I'd get to see more of you that way, so I agreed immediately. I just had to sign a few forms and bam, I was your new teacher." Padfoot explained, grinning. While he had been telling his story, the rest of the Gryffindors from Harry's year had assembled outside the room as well, just outside of earshot.

"Is that everybody?" Sirius asked Hermione, who nodded affirmatively.

"Well, let's get started, then!" he spoke loudly and entered the room, Harry, Ron and Hermione following suit.

Once inside, Harry looked around. Sirius had removed most of the furniture and the decoration, only leaving the teacher's desk. Even the dragon skeleton usually hanging from the ceiling was nowhere to be seen.

While the class slowly filed in, gathering next to the desk, Sirius stood in the centre of the room. Once everybody had entered, he put on his best smile and closed the door with a swish of his wand.

"Hello everyone, and welcome to Defence against the Dark Arts!" he greeted his students warmly, if a bit dramatically.

"Now before we begin, I'll answer some questions I'm sure you all have. Yes, I'm _that_ Sirius Black. No, I didn't kill all those people, as you should know by now. Any other questions?"

Unlike usual, it was Ron's hand who shot in the air and not Hermione's.

"Yes, Ron."

"What will you be teaching us, Siri... sir?" the boy asked, correcting himself mid-sentence.

"Well, luckily I've been preceded by two very capable teachers, even though one turned out to be a psycho."

The class chuckled at Sirius's words and relaxed a bit. Harry was glad to see they weren't afraid of his godfather as much as he had expected them to be. Apparently most of them had read the " _Daily Prophet"_ already, and even if they had been skeptical at first, Sirius's joke had done its job.

"Barty Crouch Junior, who you knew as Moody, taught you many useful things about dark magic and counteracting it. After a brief talk with Professor Lupin, I understood you also have a pretty thorough grounding in dark creatures. However, there is one area you're sorely lacking in. Harry, will you assist me please?"

A bit surprised, Harry separated from the class and walked over to his godfather until he motioned him to stop about six feet away from the animagus.

The two stood in silence for a few moments. Just as the boy was wondering what exactly was going to happen now, his attention was drawn by an involuntary twitch in Sirius's left cheek. Harry tensed up. He had raced in many Tri-legged Tournaments together with Padfoot over the summer and knew what the twitch meant perfectly well: his godfather was about to cast a spell.

Almost automatically, Harry reached for his wand at the same time as Sirius drew his. And just in time.

" _Stupefy!"_ Sirius sent a Stunner at Harry, while his godson shouted:

" _Protego!_ "

The Stunning Charm bounced of the magical shield and flew right through the spot where the dragon skeleton had once hung. Meanwhile, startled by Sirius's sudden attack, most of the class had quickly lied down.

"Great reflexes, Harry! 5 points to Gryffindor." Sirius announced, while the class slowly got back up. He then turned to the rest of the students again.

"Harry showed some admirable reactions there, but I doubt most of you here would be capable of the same. Professor Dumbledore has informed me that you only ever had one dueling lesson, and it was taught by a wizard who was a fraud. With You-Know-Who back out there, this is a critical skill you must acquire before you graduate. And now back to your question, Ron. My goal this year is to prepare you for real-life magical battles and teach you an array of useful defensive spells that are also good on the offensive. I want each of you to stand a fighting chance against You-Know-Who's agents by the end of this year."

This speech visibly intimidated most of the class. Harry could understand why. Sirius had set himself a very ambitious goal. The boy didn't know if his godfather's training could make a duelist out of everybody, no matter how rigorous it was.

On the other hand, Harry had to agree with him. Unlike some classes, like History of Magic and Divination, for which Harry was sure he would have no use for once he left Hogwarts, he was certain Sirius's lessons would come in handy someday.

"We'll start with a game." Sirius announced, trying to dispel the gloom

"I want you to split in groups of two and try to neutralise your opponent with what spells you already know. By neutralise I mean render your opponent unable to battle you any longer, not maim them! I don't want anyone to have to spend the rest of the first day in the Hospital Wing!"

The class hesitantly split as it was told. Since there was an odd number of students, Sirius excused Harry from dueling again, instead telling him to observe the others and help him spot their mistakes.

"Ready? 3,2,1, GO!" Sirius shouted, before casting a Shield Charm around himself and Harry. The boy was glad he had. A moment afterwards, dozens upon dozens of jinxes, charms and curses flew through the room in every direction possible. This chaos continued for about a minute until most students were lying down on the floor, groaning with pain. Ironically, Harry had noticed most of them weren't knocked out by their opponents, but by inaccurate spells cast by somebody in another group.

Sirius quickly hurried over to them and started casting counter-jinxes, soon joined by Harry and Hermione, the girl having somehow managed to remain unscathed in the skirmish. A few minutes later, all students were back on their feet, if a little bruised.

"I have a few remarks." Sirius spoke, bringing their attention back to him.

"First, we will have to work on your accuracy in the next few lessons. It needs some major improvement. Today most of you weren't actually hit by your opponent but by somebody else. That was a good Full Body-Bind Curse, Neville, but you have to make sure it hits Mr. Finnigan next time, and not Miss Patil."

Neville blushed with a weird mixture of pride and shame.

"Second, I noticed many of you used jinxes which aren't meant for battle, but for jokes amongst friends. Whoever cast that Boils curse on Miss Brown, though a horrible person (here the class chuckled again), is a pretty good witch or wizard, judging by the strength of the curse, but chose the wrong spell. Boils won't help you in a battle, they'll only make your opponent angrier and that's the last thing you need.

Try sticking to the spells usually used in battle, like the Body-Bind Curse or the Disarming Charm. Most importantly, try to learn the Stunner, it really is a wizard's bread and butter, as I'm sure you've heard already. I want you to read up on it before next time, then we'll practice it and your accuracy. In fact, we will start with the latter right now."

Sirius spent the rest of the time until recess teaching the class how to cast more accurately. While most people did better than before now that there weren't a dozen spells flying around, Harry's godfather observed several people were gripping their wands in a wrong way and had to correct them, noting that an improper wand grip always resulted in inaccuracy.

After he had dismissed the class, Harry, Ron and Hermione hurried over to him. Noticing them, he turned around and smiled.

"So, how did I do?" he asked, a bit nervous.

"You were great, Sirius." Hermione assured him, the two boys nodding their agreement.

"Yes, I think you maybe even outdid Lupin a bit." Ron remarked, at which Sirius huffawed.

"I'll be sure to tell him that." he promised "Bet he never thought I would be the better teacher!"

"I wanted to ask you about that, Sirius." Hermione chimed in.

"What is Lupin doing here? He's not teaching, or Dumbledore would have announced it, and there are no vacancies anyway."

Sirius looked torn. He looked as if he really wanted to tell them something, but knew he shouldn't.

"He isn't by any chance here for Dumbledore's club, is he?" Harry expressed his suspicion, remembering about the conversation he had had with the Headmaster the previous evening.

"You know about the Order of the Phoenix? Who told you?" Sirius asked back, bewildered and worried.

"Dumbledore." the boy replied. Upon hearing that, his godfather looked relieved. Harry realised he had probably thought there was some breach in the security of the club, the Order, as Sirius had called it, that could be exploited by Voldemort.

"Oh yes, me and him are attending a meeting of the Order tonight. Sadly, Snivellus will be there too." the professor said, wincing.

"You a member, Harry?"

"No, Dumbledore said he was too young." Hermione replied.

"Yes, he said I couldn't join yet." the boy confirmed.

"Well, that's a shame. I would have appreciated having someone else to help me and Lupin fend off Snape tonight." Sirius spoke with a slight regret.

"I think it's almost time for you to go now. You'll be late for your next class!"

"Wait, one last thing." Harry said.

"What House have you got next?"

"Slytherin." his godfather spat out the name as if it left a bad taste in his mouth.

Harry was glad he had asked. If he had forgotten, who knew what curse Sirius would cast upon Draco in his class? The boy knew his godfather could be a bit reckless, like when he had risked being caught last year just to speak to Harry from the fireplace, and he didn't want Sirius to get a bad reputation again.

"Can I ask you to do something for me, Sirius?" the boy asked, apprehensively.

"Sure, Harry, who should it be? Little Malfoy or his minions?" Padfoot grinned wickedly. Noticing Hermione also seemed distressed after she heard Sirius's threat, Harry quickly replied:

"Actually, I want you to leave them alone, Sirius. Please don't mess with them."

"Yes, they are not worth it, and you'd probably get sacked." Ron joined in.

Though he was somewhat disappointed, Sirius agreed he would not harass Malfoy, Crabbe or Goyle.

"Though I don't promise I won't use them as target practice to teach Stunners to the rest!" he shouted after the three once they had left the room and were running along the corridor, hurrying for their next lesson.

* * *

For once Harry was optimistic about Divination. Armed with Ginny's clever trick, he felt certain this useless class was going to turn out very pleasant from now on.

Trying their hardest to keep their faces straight, he and Ron made a beeline for Trelawney's desk immediately after climbing up the stairs. Startled at their sudden appearance, the divination professor twitched and looked up at the two boys standing side by side. She soon focused on Harry, her favourite victim.

"Hello, my poor boy. How was your summer?" she asked with her voice full of grief, as if she were at a funeral.

"Dreadful. I was nearly killed by a Bludger." Harry replied, fighting hard to suppress his grin. Next to him, Ron had to pretend to sneeze in his robe sleeve to conceal his.

"While sad to hear that, dear boy, I am not surprised. I foresaw a critical injury in your future back in July." Trelawney replied with a sad voice, her eyes observing Harry with great concern from behind her thick glasses.

"Nevermind, Professor, I'm used to it by now. However, there is another matter of utmost importance I must discuss with you." Harry replied in a dramatic tone. Keeping a straight face now seemed harder to him than tackling an angry hippogriff.

"What is it, my poor boy?"

"Something happened during the summer while I was staying at Ron's house. Do you know that his sister has prophetic visions in her sleep?"

The professor nodded vigorously.

"I think her mystical waves have affected me. I've began having prophetic dreams as well ever since I was there." Harry said, trying hard to ignore Ron, who was attempting to pass his laughter for a bad cough. Luckily for him, Trelawney was so fascinated with Harry's revelation that she paid the laughter no attention.

"Yes! Finally, boy, your Inner Eye has opened! I can see it! I felt your powerful vibrations ever since you first crossed the threshold of this room for the first time. I knew your abilities would soon be awoken!" the professor proclaimed with great pathos. Ron sounded like he was ill of bronchitis and could barely stop himself from breaking out in laughter for the whole room to hear. Harry kicked him in the shin. His part was coming up.

"Oh, and Professor Trelawney!" Ron spoke once he had overcome his cough, turning the professor's attention to him.

"He sometimes speaks in his sleep, in another language! Nobody could understand it at home but me, I have some practice with my sister."

"We were wondering, Professor, if we could use the exceptionally strong vibrations from the future in this classroom to trigger my visions. " Harry interrupted his friend, knowing that Ron couldn't last much longer.

"But of course, dear boy! You and your friend can and must dedicate yourselves to unveiling the hidden meaning of your dreams!"

"Of course, Professor." Harry replied before he dragged Ron with him to the back of the hot room. Now that they had turned their backs to Trelawney, both were grinning from ear to ear.

The two arranged three pouffes in the back of the room in a semblance of a bed for Harry, then Ron sat on another, strategically positioning himself in such a way that Harry's head was hidden from the Professor's view. This way she wouldn't know if he was sleeping or not.

"So, do you feel the visions coming already?" Ron asked his friend quietly, his wide grin still plastered on his face.

"Oh yes, loads of them. They are fighting in my head over which gets to be unveiled by you first." Harry joked, his face mirroring Ron's.

However, in a few moments the boy actually felt himself drifting. He shook his head in an effort to stay awake. Ginny was right- the warm and stuffy air was really causing him to become sleepy.

"Don't worry about it, mate, get a nap if you want to." Ron told him, having seen how he was fighting to stay awake. After nodding thankfully to his friend, Harry closed his eyes again.

* * *

This dream was new. He was strolling through the Hogwarts corridors at noon, but there was something... off about them. The real corridors were never silent at day- they either carried the voices of many students or the Peeves's cackle and Filch's angry yells. Strolling through the empty and silent corridors was really eerie, Harry thought. It felt as if the castle had been deserted.

As he turned around a corner, he came upon something. A black mass of smoke was swirling in mid-air, not touching the walls or the ceiling. There was something on the floor bellow it. Harry bent to pick it up and saw it was a carnival mask. This made little sense, but since he had realised this was a dream Harry didn't think it odd. He just left it back on the floor and approached the mass of smoke.

As he came closer, it didn't look like smoke anymore. It was more like a greasy black cloud. When Harry extended his hand to touch it, it deformed, evading his touch, before moving further down the corridor. The boy followed it and again tried to touch it, but the cloud escaped once more. This repeated several times, until Harry had almost reached the end of the corridor. Once cornered, the cloud didn't try to escape anymore. Instead, when Harry tried to touch it again, its centre flared red for a moment before it expanded, encasing the whole dream in darkness.

* * *

"My boy! What news from the great Beyond?" an awestruck voice awoke Harry. Startled, he opened his eyes and found Professor Trelawney looming over him, while Ron stood behind her, looking a little panicked. Harry mentally kicked himself. He had forgotten to think of a story before going to what was he going to tell his Professor?

"I dreamt... I dreamt about a great black hippogriff. It slashed me from throat to navel." Harry replied, knowing his professor appreciated gruesome details.

"I think it symbolises my inner self's uncertainty."

Much to his surprise and amusement, Trelawney seemed very content to hear that.

"You have finally joined our ranks, dear. Send my regards to Miss Weasley and thank her for spreading the gift of unfogging the future. I look forward to our next class together."

Harry looked back at her bewildered as she returned to his desk. He then realised the room was empty except for the Professor, Ron and himself. Looking at the clock behind Trelawney's desk, Harry saw he had slept through the lunch break.

"We'll be late for Herbology, hurry!" his friend spoke, as if he had read his thoughts.

"Why didn't you wake me up earlier, Ron?" the boy asked, his stomach churning uncomfortably.

"Sorry, Harry, the bat wouldn't let me. Didn't want me disturbing your visions." Ron scoffed while he and Harry descended through the trapdoor, conveniently placed out of Trelawney's earshot.

The two sprinted down the staircase of the North Tower. Down in the Entrance Hall, they bumped into Hermione, who was also running late, and told her about what had happened in Divination while they resumed their sprint to the glashouses.

"You should have seen that bat's happy face, Hermione, she looked like it was her birthday!" Ron explained after they had arrived and professor Sprout had tasked them with repotting wolfsbane.

While Hermione still clearly disapproved of their method, which to her was almost cheating, they could tell she was also pretty amused by their story.

"Well, Harry, while I still think you may have been better off studying something sensible like Arithmancy or Ancient Runes, I'm glad Trelawney'll finally stop pestering you." she smiled at Harry.

The boy nodded. If only Ginny also knew of a way to get rid of Snape, life at Hogwarts would be perfect, he thought. However, he was sure that would never happen. Alas, the potions master would probably remain a thorn in his side until he graduated.

"... Harry! Are you listening?" he suddenly became aware of Hermione's voice again.

"No, sorry, I drifted off for a bit. What were you saying?" the boy replied.

"I said you may want to think of a way to repay Ginny. She saved you from Trelawney, after all."

"Certainly." he agreed with her absent-mindedly, not noticing her suspicious-looking smile. He thought about how best to return the favour to Ginny. What did she like? Well, she liked Quidditch, but Harry couldn't really help her get on the team, there were no spots available except for a Keeper, and he knew the youngest Weasley preferred playing as a Chaser.

Maybe he could get her a Quidditch-related present from Spintwitches on his next trip to Hogsmeade? He blushed at the thought. No, getting her a present... it could send a different kind of message... or would it? Harry was totally confused. What would she think he was thinking about her if he just gave her a present out of nowhere?

And yet... there was this small rebellious voice in the back of his head that insisted he would actually enjoy her reaction upon getting his present... seeing her smile and the happy spark in her warm brown eyes...no! Harry mentally reprimanded himself and looked guiltily at Ron before banishing the voice to the back of his head again.

His mind was still preoccupied with returning the favour even after Herbology had ended and he was walking back up the stairs to Gryffindor Tower together with Ron and Hermione.

"Blimey, Harry, you're not ill or anything, are you?" Ron asked, concerned for his friend who was unnaturally silent, while Hermione still had her ominous smile on.

Harry's brain went into full overdrive. He had to think of something quick, or Ron would surely trace his silence back to Hermione mentioning Ginny, starting a disastrous chain of events Harry would rather avoid. The boy recalled the other events from the day, frantically scanning his memories for something that could explain his prolonged silence. Luckily, he soon remembered his dream.

"Um, do you remember that nap I took during divination? I had a very interesting dream back then." he blurted out, averting disaster.

"A dream? You don't mean you had a _real_ vision, do you?" Ron asked him, taken aback.

"No." Harry quickly denied.

"It was just a silly dream. I was chasing this greasy cloud around Hogwarts, until it flared red and covered everything. That's when Trelawney woke me up."

"But what if it is a vision, Harry? Greasy cloud- that must be Snape! Maybe somebody will pulverise Snape?" Ron said hopefully, making his friends laugh.

While Ron fantasised about Snape being pulverised ("Do you think he'll still give us homework, Hermione?") and was distracted, Harry returned to thinking about Ginny... er, repaying Ginny, of course.

Maybe he could buy her a Butterbeer next time they went to Hogsmeade! Yes, that would do the trick! Or not... Upon thinking it through, the boy realised there was one major issue with this plan: Ginny didn't usually hang out with him, Ron and Hermione in Hogwarts. Having spent so much time with her during the summer, he'd nearly forgotten that.

This was a major setback, since it meant he could only buy her a Butterbeer in one of two ways. He could ask her to come with him, Ron and Hermione next time, but the problem was that once his friend had realised it wasn't Hermione who had invited Ginny, he would grow suspicious, starting the chain of events Harry dreaded.

Of course, he could always go to Hogsmeade with her _alone_ , but that again would send a certain kind of _message..._ no, he would have to think of something else. He scrapped the Hogsmeade plan and went back to the drawing board.

"Cactus tactus!" Ron ssaid the password, bringing his friend back to the real world. Harry looked around, surprised. Dwelling on his thoughts, he hadn't realised they had already reached the Fat Lady. They boy quickly followed his friends through the passage behind the portrait and a moment later he was standing in the common room, which was positively crowded.

"Harry! Ron! Hermione! Over here!" somebody called them over the crowd. Looking around, the three saw it was Ginny, who was standing by the bulletin board. The three walked over to her, while Harry was desperately hoping she wouldn't do him another favour. If he couldn't return one, how could he deal with two?

Luckily, that wasn't the case.

"Look!" the red-haired girl said once the three were close enough, pointing at a yellow note on the bulletin board. There, written in a squiggly, barely legible writing stood the following message:

 _Tired of getting your spells from books all the time? Then this is the class for you! Join the Experimental Magic class this Saturday at 5 P.M and make your own spells. Participation is voluntary._

"We're going, right?" Ginny asked, looking at her brother and Harry.

"Sure." Harry replied. He had been impressed by Professor Ortington's stories back on the Hogwarts Express, and the fact that Ginny was coming too only strengthened his resolve.

"Yes, the professor seemed like an interesting bloke. How about you, Hermione?" Ron said.

The girl was still perusing the note with a scrutinising look. Harry guessed she didn't like the professor's attitude towards books.

"Sure, why not." she said finally, though Harry could tell she was still skeptical.

* * *

 **A/N:** Sorry about updating late, I've been unusually busy these days. I might start updating once or twice a week from now on, I just have less time available for writing than I used to. However, I will try to generally not update in bigger intervals than a week from now on.


	8. Chaser and Seeker

**Chapter 8: Seeker and Chaser**

The week dragged on for what seemed like an eternity for Harry. There were two main reasons for that. The first one was that each class that week was basically the same and could be nicely summarised by Professor McGonagall's words of welcome when the Gryffindors entered their first Transfiguration lesson for the year:

"You are entering a most important state in your magical education, the year in which you will take your Ordinary Wizarding Levels, or O.W.L.s. Passing is critical for those who wish to proceed with their chosen subjects on a N.E.W.T. level. "

McGonagall paused for a moment and critically observed her students, making sure they understood her, before she resumed, her stern voice reverberating from the walls.

"Although I'm certain that not all of you have chosen careers which require a N.E.W.T. in Transfiguration, I must insist that you all score at least an Acceptable on your Transfiguration O.W.L., unless it is your wish to prove my efforts have been wasted on you."

Neville gulped loudly. Harry and Ron looked at him with compassion. The clumsy boy had never done well in McGonagall's classes and prospects seemed bleak for him. On the other hand, Harry didn't feel too sure about himself either.

It was no wonder that Defense against the Dark Arts quickly became the most students' favourite subject, seeing as Sirius was the only one who didn't drone about O.W.L.s all the time.

"Eh, it's just an exam." he replied when the Gryffindors asked him about them.

"Worst that can happen is you fail it and have to redo the year. However, I think none of you will fail Defence. You're on your own for theory, but I think you should ace the practical part with all the training you're getting, and it is way more important. Now back to the Stunning Spell!"

The second reason Harry couldn't wait for the week to end was because as Angelina Johnson, Gryffindor's new Quidditch captain, had informed him on Tuesday morning, the tryouts for a new Keeper would be held on Saturday in the morning. The boy was eager to watch Ron try for Keeper and really hoped his friend would make it on the team.

However, on Friday morning it became clear that Oliver Wood's vacancy would not be the only one that had to be filled the following day.

"What do you mean, you are going to Beauxbatons? We need you here to win the cup!" Angelina Johnson yelled angrily at her fellow Chaser Katie Bell, startling Harry who was just coming down the stairs of the boys' dormitory. The boy winced. Apparently, Angelina had caught Oliver Wood's captain flu that made the afflicted put the Quidditch Cup above all else.

"It's done already. I handed in my application and they told me I had been approved. I'm going to Beauxbatons. " Katie calmly replied, standing her ground. Angelina was about to yell again, but apparently overcame her captain's flu and instead began nervously pacing the common room.

"We'll be flattened in our first game, you know." she spoke grimly.

"It's very close. We don't have time to look for a new Chaser and all my strategies will be rendered totally useless. Gryffindor will lose the Quidditch Cup!" she said, pulling on her hair out of nervousness.

Harry quickly recognised the golden opportunity that arose. Finally, he'd put an end to all those mental debates he had in his head about Ginny... well, her favour, anyway.

"Calm down, Angelina, we're not going to lose. We'll win again. I've got a new Chaser for the team." Harry told his captain as he approached her. The seventh-year looked up, hopeful again.

"Really? Who are you thinking of, Harry?" Katie asked, interested to hear who would replace her.

"Ginny Weasley."

"Fred and George's little sister?" Angelina raised an eyebrow, not quite convinced.

"She's tougher than she looks." Harry defended Ginny.

"We played a few games together during the summer. She's brilliant, Angelina. Just what we need- lithe, fast and agile. She always did those incredible manoeuvres, and she played on a _Shooting Star_!"

The two girls exchanged glances and knowing smiles appeared on both of their faces, puzzling the boy.

"Fine. "Angelina turned to Harry, the smirk still on her face.

"Tell her we'll try her tomorrow, after we've selected a Keeper. If we like her, she's in."

Suddenly bustling with happiness, Harry quickly made his way out of the common room and practically sprinted down the staircase in the corridor outside, only slowing down to avoid the sinking steps. He couldn't wait to tell Ginny the great news, to see her smile and her eyes widen with surprise...

Just as he jumped over 3 steps and landed on the first floor landing, Harry stopped dead in his tracks. His happiness subsided. He had forgotten one very important detail. Ginny couldn't be a Chaser on the old _Shooting Star_ , or any of the school brooms for that matter. She needed a good broom, her own broom.

Without realising it, Harry began pacing the landing while scrambling for a solution to this problem. He knew he had to find one quick, or all his efforts would have been for nothing and it would be back to the mental debates again.

He knew Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had already promised Ron a new broom if he got on the team. His friend had excitedly shared that with him the previous day. This meant that if Ron got in, they probably wouldn't be able to get a broom for Ginny as well. They would feel guilty, and Harry didn't want to put them in such a position. So he had to think of another way.

Maybe Bill? Again thanks to Ron Harry knew that the oldest of the Weasley kids adored his sister and indulged in getting her presents now and then. However, the boy thought this was a bit too big of a present to ask for. Also, he didn't know Bill that well yet, so he felt uncomfortable about writing to him with such a request.

This left Harry with only one option, the one person who had helped him when he had been in a similar position.

Breakfast had already begun when he entered the Great Hall.

"I'll be back in a moment." he told Ron and Hermione as he passed them by on his way to the teachers' table. Luckily, today Professor McGonagall had decided she'd only have tea for breakfast, so she was already done when Harry approached her.

"Good morning, professor." he greeted her.

"Good morning to you too, Mr. Potter. How may I help you?" she asked after greeting back.

"I was wondering if I could discuss something with you in private, Professor." Harry replied, aware of Snape's glare drilling in him from his left side. He certainly didn't want the potions master to know what he was going to ask of the head of Gryffindor.

The deputy headmistress nodded curtly before leading the boy towards the same door Sirius had come out of a few days ago. Behind it Harry found the room where he had once gathered with the other Triwizard Champions.

"What do you want to ask me about, ?" McGonagall asked as she conjured two identical wooden chairs and sat in one, leaving Harry to take the second.

"I just wondered about something, Professor. Do you remember that _Nimbus 2000_ you got me so that I could play for Gryffindor?"

The teacher nodded, a small smile appearing on her face.

"As if it were yesterday. A nice broom it was, Potter, though I have to admit your _Firebolt_ is certainly an improvement over it."

"May I ask you where you got the money for this broom, Professor? It was quite expensive at the time." Harry reminisced.

The professor looked around cautiously, checking if they were alone in the room. Then she pointed her wand at the door and swished. At once, a semi-transparent pearl white barrier covered it, waving irregularly. Harry guessed it was some sort of anti-eavesdropping spell.

"What I'm about to tell you, Mr. Potter, is one of this school's best kept secrets. Please don't share it with anybody else." The professor spoke ominously. Harry tensed up, expecting to hear a school legend of the same magnitude as the Chamber of Secrets.

"Godric Gryffindor was hooked on Aingingein."

Noticing her student was extremely befuddled, McGonagall began explaining:

"Aingingein is one of the predecessors of Quidditch. It was a game that probably inspired the position of the Chaser. The player had to fly on a broom, holding what we today would probably call a Quaffle, through a series of burning barrels without catching fire. At the end of the obstacle course stood a hoop, through which the player would have to throw the ball to score.

Although the game was fairly popular in the middle ages before Quidditch was invented, few people know it was also one of Godric Gryffindor's favourite pastimes. It was because of his affection for the sport that he set up the Gryffindor broom fund."

"A broom fund?" Harry asked, taken aback.

"Yes. As a part of his will, Godric deposited a small part of his fortune in a bank that would later be absorbed by Gringotts, saying it could be used only by future students of his house who needed a broomstick to participate in the school's sporting activities. Now before you ask, Potter," McGonagall said, having seen the unspoken question in Harry's eyes.

" There isn't that much money in the fund, regardless of the giant amount of interest it has accumulated over the ages. No matter how much I want you to crush the Slytherins this year, I can't get new brooms for the whole team. If we want the fund to remain for the next generations, all we can afford to buy with it is one new broom per year for very promising players only."

"Professor, I know one who might need a new broom soon."

"Do enlighten me, ."

"You know that Katie Bell is part of the exchange programme, right?" The deputy headmistress nodded in response.

"Yes, Miss Bell informed me of it yesterday evening. This leaves us with one Chaser missing."

"Not necessarily, Professor." Harry assured her.

"Ginny Weasley can fill in for Katie, She's a brilliant Chaser, I played with her during the summer. Only problem is the Weasleys can't afford a new broom right now."

Knowing that now came the most critical part, Harry put on his best persuasive smile and continued.

"So, I was wondering, Professor, if we could perhaps get Ginny a new broom with money from the fund? A _Nimbus 2001_ would do just fine, and I hear their price has dropped a bit recently."

Minerva McGonagall gave her student a very odd sort of look. Harry was getting a bit worried. Had he crossed the line, to ask his teacher for something like that? Would she say "No" and angrily berate him about telling her what to do with the school funds?

"Are you sure your request isn't influenced by the affection you feel for Miss Weasley, Potter?" the Head of Gryffindor asked him, quite calmly. Upon hearing this, Harry flushed the shade of beetroot.

"No! Er, maybe. Somewhat? We're... we're friends, Professor." the boy blurted out.

The deputy headmistress regarded him with amusement for a second, before shaking her head and answering.

"Very well, then. Should she get on the team, Miss Weasley can expect her broom the day after tomorrow. Anything else you wish to ask me about?"

"No, thank you, Professor." Harry replied, calming down.

"Off you go then. Wish Miss Weasley the best of luck from me on the tryouts tomorrow." his teacher told him, as she removed the anti-eavesdropping spell from the door and then opened it.

Now that the problem with the broom had been solved, Harry felt his happiness accumulating again. By the time he had reached the Gryffindor table and sat himself between Ron and Hermione, it had manifested itself into a wide grin.

"What are you so happy about, we have double Potions with the Slytherins today." Ron groaned miserably, while he was filling his plate with bangers and mash.

However, not even the prospect of spending half his afternoon with Snape down in the dungeons could sink Harry's mood right now, so his grin persisted. Hermione eyed him with mild bewilderment, the non-challant way he had taken the bad news arousing suspicion.

"Eh, whatever." Harry replied, making Ron drop his fork in surprise. When his friend looked at him, wide-eyed, Harry quickly clarified.

"We've got the tryouts tomorrow to look forward to, right? I wouldn't care if we had quadruple Potions today. Speaking of tryouts- where's Ginny?"

"Right here." the girl called from Hermione's other side. She then leaned over the table so that she could get a better look at Harry. Noticing his excited looks and wide smile, she quickly exchanged confused glances with Hermione.

"Great!" Harry exclaimed, further puzzling his three friends. Looking at them, he decided it was finally time to spill the beans.

"Katie Bell is going to Beauxbatons this year. I overheard her arguing with Angelina about it. She was afraid we'd be missing a Chaser with Katie going away for the year. I know you're a great Chaser, Ginny, so I suggested you to Angelina. She agreed, so we'll be also trying you out tomorrow."

This stunned Harry's friends into a silence only punctuated by Ron's desperate coughs. His friend's revelation had caused him to choke on his banger. Harry patted him hard on the back several times until he could breathe freely again. He then turned to the girls again, eager to see Ginny's reaction.

It was just as he had imagined it. She was smiling happily. Her brown eyes had lit up with excitement at his announcement. When she saw he was looking at her, she looked away and blushed in the most adorable fashion... wait. Since when did he find her blushing adorable? Why was he having _this_ kind of thoughts about his best friend's sister?

Harry was on the brink of a mental debate again, heated like no other. Luckily, Ginny spoke and saved him from that fate.

"Th... thanks, Harry. That's very kind of you." she stuttered her gratitude.

"Oh, it's nothing. I owed you one for saving me from Trelawney." Harry responded, before suddenly a great idea crossed his mind. Engrossed in it, he didn't notice the victorious look Hermione sent the other girl when she heard his words.

"Hey, wanna train with me and Ron tonight? You know, to get you ready for the tryouts?" Harry shared his idea. He knew immediately by the excited expressions on the two Weasleys' faces that they wholeheartedly agreed.

"Brilliant, Harry! During the free time before dinner! We'll meet up in the Entrance Hall." Ron suggested. His sister and his friend both nodded their agreement.

* * *

Snape seemed angrier than usual when he strolled his way from the entrance to his office to the back of his desk. Harry thought he looked positively murderous. Apparently, the presence of Sirius on the school grounds was unbearable to him. The boy wasn't surprised when the Head of Slytherin threw him a loathing glance before beginning his lesson. Their mutual hatred for each other was becoming something like a tradition by this point.

"For some reason the Ministry has deemed brewing Anti-Acne Potions a worthy subject this term. While I can assure you that a useless and simplistic solution like that will never be the subject of your O.W.L.s, I still require that each of you present a passable attempt at the end of this class. In the end, a select few of you will have to test it on themselves."

Even without the vicious look in Snape's eyes Harry knew he would magically turn out to be one of these select few. Ignoring the mocking glances Draco Malfoy was sending in his direction from the first row, having apparently come to the same conclusion, Harry began carefully preparing the potion, hoping that getting it wrong wouldn't have disastrous effects on his face.

He was cautious around the glass container containing the chief ingredient, undiluted bubotuber pus. He knew the effects of the petrol-scented liquid all too well, after an angry fan of Rita Skeeter had mailed Hermione a whole envelope of the disgusting yellow substance.

To his surprise, Hermione was pretty careless in contrast, although she had suffered the effects herself. Her container was placed on top of her knife, its handle sticking out from the Potions book it was placed on. Harry recognised the dangerous setup, but it was too late. Hermione had reached for her knife, having already got to cutting the frog entrails, and inadvertently pressed the handle down.

Quite predictably, this catapulted the container and its disgusting contents straight at the girl. She somehow managed to duck in the last second and avoid it. However, Ron was just behind her and his reactions weren't so swift.

"ARRRGH!" he yelled in pain as repulsive yellow boils covered his face.

"Oh, Ron, I'm so sorry! I should have been more careful!" Hermione apologised, her voice nearly muted by the chorus of laughter that could be heard from the Slytherins. Snape soon looked around and located the source of this disturbance. As he headed their way, his black robes swirling behind him, Harry thought he looked like an infuriated thestral.

"What's the matter, Mr. Weasley?" he asked, ignoring Ron's horrible condition. Ron tried to send an angry glare in his direction, but instead looked in Harry's direction. Most of the pus had splashed in the area around his eyes, so it was the most affected, giant boils obstructing his vision.

"He's been rendered blind, professor. We must escort him to the Hospital Wing." Harry told the potions master, deciding to make the most out of his friend's unfortunate injury. Hermione beamed at him and got up together with him, but Snape spread out his arm in front of her, halting her,

"You may go, Potter and Weasley. I doubt your potions could remove a single pimple." he spoke derisively.

"However, Miss Granger, you remain here. I'm interested in seeing how your potion will turn out to be, with most of the chief ingredient smeared over Mr. Weasley's face. Back to work!" he commanded. Sending her a compassionate look, Harry made his way out of the dungeon, guiding his blind friend.

Stairs were especially difficult for Ron, so it was no wonder that when the two finally climbed to the fourth floor of the Hospital Tower and were standing in front of Hospital Wing, the Potions Class was probably over already.

"Merlin's beard!" Madam Pomfrey exclaimed once she witnessed the dreadful condition Ron was in.

"Don't you know you have to dilute bubotuber pus before using it?" she scolded the boy as she and Harry escorted him to a bed.

"I didn't do this myself!" Ron objected angrily as he lied down.

"It was an accident in Potions." Harry confirmed. Madam Pomfrey scoffed and went back to her office to fetch ailments.

"Blimey, Harry, we'll be late for the training! Let's go, I'm sure I'll think of some jinx to fix these on the way..." Harry's friend realised after a few moments and made to jump from the bed, but was held in place by an angry head nurse.

"Oh no, you're not going anywhere, young man!" she objected.

"Unless you want to keep sporting your decoration for the following month, you will stay here for the night! Bubotuber boils are tricky to treat, especially on one's face."

Ron's face screwed up with disappointment. While Madam Pomfrey began spreading some balm over his boils, Harry patted his friend's shoulder and tried to cheer him up.

"Don't worry, Ron, I'm sure Madam Pomfrey will have you fighting fit by tomorrow morning. You won't miss the Tryouts, that's all that matters."

The two chatted for another minute, wondering who would be Gryffindor's first opponent for the year, before the head nurse shooed Harry away, telling him her patients needed rest.

Aware that he was terribly late, Harry rushed down the staircase until a minute later he was standing, out of breath, in front of Ginny.

"Sorry... for... the delay." he apologised, inhaling air in big gulps.

"Don't worry about it, Harry, Hermione told me what happened with Ron." Ginny replied, heading to the gate of the castle. Harry quickly fell into stride with her.

"And what about her? Did Snape really make her test the potion on herself?" the boy asked once they had entered the courtyard outside.

"Yes." the Weasley winced, probably from recalling the state her friend was in.

"It wasn't pretty. I met her on her way to the Hospital Wing."

"I don't get it. Why does Dumbledore insist on keeping him on the job? I mean, there must be equally capable potion makers that aren't such gits, right?" Harry remarked. Ginny wholeheartedly agreed and the two spent the next few minutes discussing why Snape was constantly angry at any non-Slyhterin student all the time.

"I mean, I kind of get why he would hate me, after all he also hated my father. But why is he also such a jerk to, let's say, Neville?" Harry wondered.

Ginny had no answer for that. Luckily, the discussion about Snape didn't last longer, as they had already reached the Quidditch pitch. The two separated and headed for their respective changing rooms.

While he was changing into his Quidditch robes, Harry realised that he had forgotten to bring his _Firebolt_ with him and was about to rush to the girls' changing room and tell Ginny that he was going to go and get it, but then he thought better. Ginny would fly on one of the school brooms for their training and for the tryouts tomorrow, so it was only fair that he flied on one too.

A minute later, the two met again, each of them gripping a _Cleansweep Five_ in hand, Harry also holding a Quaffle in his other hand.

"Here you go." he said, handing her the ball.

"Let's start with some penalty shots until we get used to the brooms, and then I'll see if I'm any good as a Keeper." the boy suggested, highly doubting he would be a good Keeper.

Once they rose in the air, he was glad he had suggested getting used to the brooms. While not as terrible as Ron's old _Shooting Star_ , it was pretty obvious that the _Cleansweep Five_ was out of date. Its manoeuvreability wasn't that bad when Harry compared it to the _Nimbus 2000_ he had flown on before (there was no point comparing it to the _Firebolt_ ), but its acceleration was abysmal. The boy had to fly across half the pitch before the broom reached the speed he was used to.

He felt really glad he had had the discussion with McGonagall in the morning. Harry didn't think even Viktor Krum could perform well on a _Cleansweep 5._

To his amazement, Ginny actually did well on it. She used the broom's manoeuvreability to her great advantage, flying in loops or a zigzag pattern. This also enabled her to accelerate better. Blimey, she actually made the broom look _good_ , Harry thought.

The boy had been right about one thing though, and that was his abilities as a Keeper. He was certainly glad he didn't have to try for one on the next day. He had thought the position would somewhat boring, as all the action was happening elsewhere. However, he quickly realised playing Keeper was probably the second hardest thing to playing Seeker and required a whole different skillset. Quick reactions, reading your opponent, making short dashes from ring to ring- all things he was totally unused to.

Therefore, it came as no surprise that Ginny totally owned Harry. Unlike him, she was playing the position she was strongest in. The boy couldn't keep up with her speed and was unprepared for her sudden swerves. Additionally, he fell for almost all of her feints and rushed to guard the wrong ring, only to hear the girl's triumphant cheers behind his back.

One time though Harry almost managed to stop the Quaffle from entering the ring. As Ginny sped towards him from the centre of the field, flying in a zigzag line, the boy recognised the pattern. She had used the same manoeuvre a minute ago. Harry grinned, knowing what the girl would do next. She would pretend to aim for the right ring, but in the end she would swerve and score in the central ring instead. The boy decided to pretend he was fooled again and moved in front of the right ring. Just as he had expected, during her final approach, Ginny suddenly turned left and headed straight for the centre ring. Having anticipated that, Harry had shot towards it a moment before she did. The boy looked at her, smiling triumphantly.

He was unprepared for what he saw. Ginny's hair had spread behind her and was waving in the wind like a beautiful red flag. Harry wished he could run his hands through it, to feel it on his fingertips...

This distraction cost him the control over his broom, so the _Cleansweep_ plummeted. Harry snapped out of his daydream and quickly swerved out of the dive just before he reached the ground. However, this destabilised the broom and the boy found himself falling from it anyway.

What business do you have thinking about Ginny's hair, spoke the voice of reason inside Harry's head, sounding a bit like Ron. When the boy got back up, brushing grass off his robes, he thought he had been acting strange lately. What was the matter with him? Why did he keep having these mental debates about Ginny even after he'd returned the favour?

Meanwhile, the girl had flown down too and was hovering next to him.

"Are you OK, Harry?" she asked anxiously.

"Yes, don't worry, Quidditch has put me through way worse." he replied, grinning as he recalled the time Professor Lockhart had vanished his bones.

The way Ginny landed made an impression on Harry. She didn't just jump off the broom. Instead, she slowly pulled the handle upward. The broom stood in a near vertical position and started descending, until the girl's feet touched the ground.

Then Harry realised that it couldn't be Ginny's first time flying this broom. Landing like that required intricate knowledge of the model's little quirks and he was pretty certain it was impossible if one hadn't flown the broom before. This befuddled the boy. Ginny had always flown one of the _Shooting Stars_ lying around in the Burrow in their games. Unless... the boy smirked.

"Wow, you're great, Ginny!" he exclaimed, before laying his little trap.

"Ever flown a _Cleansweep_ before?"

The girl looked guilt-stricken for a moment, just as Harry expected, but she soon masterfully concealed it.

"No, never."

"Are you certain? I remember Fred and George used to have _Fives_ before they got _Sevens."_ the boy continued, his grin widening.

Ginny flushed a bit. She walked away from Harry and towards the changing rooms, trying to hide it. The boy quickly followed her.

"No, they never let me fly those." she carefully explained, though to Harry it was obvious she was bluffing.

"I'm sure that didn't stop you." he teased her. The girl regarded him with surprise before she saw his wide grin. Then she smiled mischievously herself.

"Well, I may have snuck out some nights and flown their brooms without permission." she confessed with a playful tone. Harry pretended to be outraged, before delivering what he thought was a pretty good impression of Professor McGonagall.

"I must admit I'm disappointed by your frivolous behaviour, Miss Weasley. What would your brothers think if they knew their little sister flew off with their brooms at night?"

"They need never find out. Catch snitches all you want, Harry, but don't become one yourself." Ginny joked.

"Alright, alright, I'll keep your secret." Harry assured her.

"So you flew on their brooms? Is that how you figured out how to do all those zigzags and loops?"

"Yes, it's the only way to get some half-decent speed out of this thing." the girl replied, before her face suddenly formed into a frown as she regarded the broom she was holding.

Harry knew why she wasn't happy. She had realised that there was no use complaining about the _Cleansweep Five,_ as she would be flying one in the days to come, having no way to get her own broom. Little did she know she was in for a big surprise, Harry thought.

The boy smiled from ear to ear as he thought about how best to present the good news to her. Finally, he decided to start with a little backstory.

"Ginny?" he called her, distracting her from her gloomy thoughts.

"Did I ever tell you how I got the _Nimbus 2000_ , the broom I had before the _Firebolt_?"

"The one that crashed in the Whomping Willow?" the girl asked. Harry nodded in response.

"No, you haven't."

"It was during my first year, soon after I got on the team. It came by owl post, anonymously. However, when I looked around, I saw Professor McGonagall standing there, smiling at me."

"Wait, McGonagall bought you your broom?" Ginny interrupted him, astonished that the strict witch had spent so much money on one of her students.

Harry was unsure what to reply. On one hand, everything could be explained much easier if he told Ginny about the Gryffindor broom fund. On the other hand, Professor McGonagall had asked him to keep it a secret. In the end, he decided to go with a white lie.

"Yes, she later told me she wanted to show Snape who's the best at Quidditch. Today I reminded her of that conversation, and asked her if she still wanted to show Snape which House is the best. She said yes, so then I asked her if she could get a broom for another of our players..."

"Wait..." Ginny narrowed her eyes with suspicion. She stopped walking for a second and turned to look at Harry.

"Don't tell me you asked McGonagall to get a broom for me as well?" she asked, her eyes wide open, barely daring to hope.

"I did. She said she would if you get on the team." Harry replied, before he was struck by a crimson comet. Startled, he looked down and saw the comet had been Ginny, who had dashed towards him in the moment he said "I did." and had then hugged him with all her strength. He smiled and returned the hug.

The boy was a bit worried though. What if somebody was watching? What would they think? That's when the rebellious voice in the back of his head chose to speak again. Others don't matter, it told Harry, as long as Ginny's here. While the voice laughed triumphantly, Harry's nose detected a familiar airy scent, the one that the boy smelled on his first night at the Burrow this summer. He realised it must have been Ginny's perfume.

However, mere moments had passed when another voice spoke in Harry's head, the one that sounded like Ron. What are you doing, it asked angrily, why are you clinging onto Ginny like a sucker fish?

Blushing profusely, he relinquished his grip. Ginny let go too and the boy could see she had flushed red.

"I don't know what to say, Harry." the girl said, shyly looking away.

"I really appreciate that."

Harry could think of no answer to that, so he just smiled nervously.

It was getting dark, so the two hurried back to the changing rooms, not wanting to be late for dinner. On their way back to the castle they chatted about things like how great Sirius was doing as a teacher and when Hagrid would be back, but Harry's mind was barely into it. Most of it was preoccupied by the renewed debate of the Ron-like voice and its rebellious opponent

* * *

 **A/N:** I know it's been a long time and I'm sorry I kept you all waiting. I wasn't planning on finishing the story but I recently returned to check it out and saw a review asking me to continue. Then I remembered how disappointed I was with stories I read here that suddenly ended just when things got interesting and I decided I didn't want to be one of those authors. I will finish this story. It may be shorter than I intended and I might update infrequently, but I'll try my best to see it through.

And now a question for you: how would you like me to update? I can update after I finish every chapter, which might not be very frequent... or I can wait untill I've finished the story and then start updating once per week. Which would you like better?


	9. Tryouts and Experiments

**Chapter 9: Tryouts and Experiments**

Saturday morning brought a clear sky and a weak gust. In other words, perfect Quidditch conditions, Harry thought as he jumped down from his bed. This day couldn't be off to a better start.

However, as the boy came down the stairs he heard a heated argument coming from downstairs and one of the voices certainly belonged to Hermione. Curious to see what his friend was so angry about, Harry hurried and after a moment he was standing in the common room.

It was Fred and George who were suffering under the curly-haired girl's wrath. Harry threw them a compassionate glance before crossing the room to see what the quarrel was all about.

"You can't use the bulletin board for advertisements and you most certainly can't use other students as your test subjects!" Hermione was yelling at the twins just as Harry came to her.

"Oh, hello Harry." she greeted calmly as she noticed him, before kicking into full overdrive again.

"I will talk to Professor McGonagall about this!"

"What's the matter?" Harry asked, while Fred and George frowned at the mention of their Head of House's name.

Fuming silently, Hermione handed him a bright orange poster she held in her hand. After unfolding it, Harry read a message with big purple letters

 ** _Weasley Wizard Wheezes is hiring!_**

 _Want to have fun? Want to join a noble cause? Want to earn a quick Galleon or two? Then search no further! Help us test our new Skiving Snackboxes and earn your three rewards:_

 _1._ _A Galleon to do with as you please_

 _2._ _Your very own Developer's Snackbox-an exclusive collectible!_

 _3._ _Having your name written down in prank history_

 ** _Don't hesitate! Join us today!_**

"What are Skiving Snackboxes?" Harry asked, interested.

"An indispensable tool for every student!" Fred explained.

"We came up with the idea over the summer. It's perfect for skiving off- hence the name. Should you ever find yourself in a horribly dull class, like History of Magic or Divination, with no means of escape, all you need is the orange end of one Puking Pastil or a small chunk of Nosebleed Nougat and it's off to the Hospital Wing with you and away from the boring lesson." Fred explained, holding an orange pastil between his forefinger and thumb.

"But once you're out," Fred flipped the pastil, showing its purple underside.

", you quickly take the antidote on the other end and have one class worth of free time!"

"Brilliant!" Harry exclaimed, before he noticed the positively murderous glares Hermione was shooting in his direction.

"Harry! Don't encourage them!" she scolded him.

"But why not? Hermione, to be honest with you, if these existed before I would have probably skipped half of History of Magic already, I learn more history from you than from Binns anyway. I think these Snackboxes are a pretty clever idea, actually." Harry retorted, the twins beaming at him.

"Really? Would you still think the same if I told you they tested them on first-years? I caught them at it yesterday! The boy had to spend the whole afternoon with his nose bleeding afterwards. And all because of their Nosebleed Nougat!" the girl almost shouted at the two Weasleys.

"Yes, I admit we had an accident yesterday. See, that boy ate an old piece of nougat, and the antidote had gone bad. Still, he signed up himself. He knew what he was getting into when he got his galleon and his Developer's Snackbox." Fred defended himself and his brother.

"The boy's just eleven, he doesn't know what he's getting into! Also, how do I know that only old nougat makes you bleed the entire afternoon?"

"Well, we could always test it on me." Harry said, suddenly feeling adventurous. Hermione was stunned by his proposition.

"Deal!" George shouted before the girl could object and handed Harry a small piece of the sweet. The boy ate it before his friend could even protest.

"It's actually pretty tasty." he remarked before streams of blood burst from his nostrils like two fountains. Harry quickly felt himself going light-headed, while the twins scrambled for the antidote. After they had finally found it and fed it to Harry, the bleeding stopped instantly. However, the boy was pale as a vampire and could barely stand on his two legs.

"I think you overdid it. It's the Piñata Bludger all over again. I don't think you should sell those before you... before you reduce the bleeding." Harry told them, swaying around dangerously before Hermione saw he was about to fall and caught him, swinging his arm around her shoulders for support.

"Blimey, you're right. Sorry, Harry and sorry, Hermione." Fred apologised.

"But don't think we've given up just yet!" George announced.

"Students will need the Skiving Snackboxes when the O.W.L.s come by. Yes, even you, Hermione. Skiving is the only way to get enough time for studying, believe me."

"Or you can just get a Time Turner and not tell anybody for a year. You know, the old-fashioned way." Harry whispered in his friend's ear while the twins gathered their Snackboxes and left the room, off to optimise.

Hermione gave him a reproachful look as she sat him down on the sofa in front of the fireplace, before returning for a moment to the spot they had stood in order to vanish the puddle of blood Harry had left behind.

"These two don't need your support, Harry. They are bad enough as it is." she berated him once she returned.

"But thanks for illustrating my point, I guess."

"You can't restrain them, Hermione. Fred and George will always be a force of nature." her friend told her.

"Though I'm sure Ginny can help. Merlin's beard, even I have bad memories of the Bat-Bogey Hex."

"I'll bear that in mind." the girl replied. "Speaking about Ginny, how was your training yesterday?"

Harry was glad there wasn't much blood left in his face or he would have flushed the shade of a tomato.

"Um... great! Well, I mean, it's a shame Ron couldn't make it, but I think Ginny will succeed. She's great."

"Is she, now?" Hermione said with a mischievous glint in her eyes. Luckily for her, just as she was saying that Harry had been distracted by Ron's entrance and he didn't notice her suspicious behaviour.

"Ron! Are you alright, mate?" the boy asked with concern. His friend looked as if he had eaten Nosebleed Nougat himself; if he looked any paler, Harry could have easily mistaken him for a vampire.

"What if I don't make it, Harry?" his friend mused anxiously as he plopped down on the sofa next to him. Noticing Harry's own paleness, his friend furrowed his eyebrows.

"You feeling nervous too, Harry? But why? It's not like they'd kick you from the team, you're a brilliant Seeker!"

"Nosebleed Nougat." the boy replied laconically.

"Bloody hell, when will Fred and George stop trying to do you in? I mean, they've done more damage than half the Death Eaters already!" Ron replied, half-shocked and half-amused.

"Well, at least I won't miss a real match. I guess I can just watch the tryouts from the stands." Harry told him.

"Yes, the tryouts..." Ron trailed off, gulping nervously. Harry put his hand on his friend's shoulder, in an effort to reassure him.

"Don't worry, Ron, you'll make it."

Ron tried to smile bravely, but all he could manage was a nervous grin.

* * *

While Hermione helped him sit down on the wooden bench (he still hadn't quite recovered from the effects of the Nosebleed Nougat, even after a hearty breakfast), Harry realised he had never actually spectated a Quidditch game at school. The boy had always been either out there on the pitch or knocked out cold in the hospital wing during all matches.

He actually liked the view from the stands and thought that maybe watching a game or two could give him a different perspective into the game and help him perform better. Harry then took a mental note to ask Madam Hooch when the next Hufflepuff versus Ravenclaw match would take place (understandably, he wasn't keen on watching Slytherin). Maybe Ginny would be eager to come along too.

What's the deal with you and her lately, why is she on your mind so often, asked the voice of reason inside his head, the one that Harry was getting increasingly frustrated with. He could think about Ginny all he wanted, he thought angrily. It wasn't like he focused on one thing only, there was a lot about her to think about- her sense of humour, her Quidditch skills, her warm eyes and the way her silky hair felt at his fingertips...

STOP IT THIS INSTANT, the Ron-like internal voice insisted, and Harry acquiesced. He had to admit he had gone a bit too far, what would the real Ron think if he could read his thoughts? In an effort to distract himself from his mental argument, he focused his attention on the pitch and tried to discern the Keeper candidates from the distance, hoping to evaluate Ron's odds of getting on the team.

Besides his friend, it appeared that there was only one other volunteer. It was Seamus Finnigan. He was flying around on a _Cleansweep Five,_ apparently trying to get the feel of it. Meanwhile, Ron was discussing something with Angelina Johnson, but Harry could hear nothing from such great distance.

First up was Seamus. He appeared confident at first, but began trembling once Alicia Spinnet and Katie Bell sped towards him, passing each other the Quaffle at the most unexpected times. The boy managed to save a shot or two, but missed most of them.

When Ron ascended on his broom Harry saw he had become white as chalk. He knew that if he lacked confidence, his friend would never succeed, so he decided to encourage him a bit.

"You show them, Ron!" he shouted as loud as he could.

Harry's friend heard him and raised his hand in response. Then he positioned himself in front of the central hoop. Even from where he was sitting, Harry could see his friend was shaking with nervousness.

Alicia and Katie once again shot through the air, unpredictable as the cold autumn wind. Moving in a seemingly random fashion, they approached the rings, the quaffle in Katie's hand. She made for the left ring and Ron also sped towards it, hurrying to block her. In the last second though, Katie suddenly passed it to Alicia, who shot it through the unguarded right ring.

Harry and Hermione were in for an unpleasant watch as their friend let the ball through again and again. Alicia and Katie are just too good, the boy thought. He had played against Ron many times during the summer and his friend always managed to save most of his shots, so Harry had had the impression he'd make a pretty good Keeper. Now with his own experience as a Keeper from the previous day, Harry knew how different the Quidditch positions played. He had probably been a mediocre Chaser at best, therefore it had been easy for Ron to save his shots . Meanwhile, Alicia and Katie had been playing as Chasers for as long as Harry had as a Seeker, if not longer. They were in their element.

A sudden cheer broke Harry out of his gloomy thoughts. Looking around, he found Hermione standing up, waving her hands and screaming with glee. Searching for the reason for her unusual behaviour, the boy looked at the Quidditch pitch to see Ron holding the quaffle inches away from the ring. For a few moments Harry just sat there dumbstruck, but then he joined Hermione in her celebration.

This was a turning point. Apparently, after missing all those shots, Ron had started to discern some pattern in Alicia and Katie's manoeuvres, since he didn't fall for any of their feints anymore. The two Chasers couldn't score a single goal.

One time it seemed like they had tricked him again, Alicia passing the quaffle in the last possible moment. Katie then proceeded to the right ring while Ron had already shot towards the left in an effort to stop Alicia. However, this turned out to be a feint of his own. The Weasley sped upwards in a loop and came down right in front of the quaffle, deflecting it from its course. The two Chasers just stopped in mid-air and stared at him, wordless.

Ginny's not the only one who has been flying on the twins' brooms, Harry thought with amusement. Ron was also all too familiar with the _Cleansweep 5'_ s excellent agility.

The boy's stunt marked the end of the Keeper tryouts. He came down to the ground supported by Alicia, apparently dizzy from the loop. Once they landed, Harry saw Angelina come over and enthusiastically shake his hand.

Harry turned around and saw Hermione's smile mirrored his own.

"He's in! He made it!" she exclaimed loudly, her face alight with glee.

"The Slytherins have got no chance this year." her friend replied, sharing her excitement.

However, the tryouts were not over yet. There was still one player who needed to be tested. Clutching her broom in her left hand, Ginny Weasley appeared on the pitch. Grinning nervously, she waved at Harry and Hermione before approaching Angelina. The two on the spectators' bench couldn't hear what they were talking about, but in the end the older girl nodded and Alicia and Ginny mounted their brooms and shot upwards. Soon they were followed by Ron, who looked significantly calmer now that he wasn't the one being tested.

While the players positioned themselves, Harry suddenly realised he was torn on who to root for. On one hand, it would be better if Ron saved most of the shots, since this would look good in Angelina's eyes and cement his position on the team. On the other, the boy desperately hoped Ginny aced this. After all, if she got in, he'd see way more of her than he did now.

Traitor!, yelled the Ron-like voice in his head. You are betraying your friend, rooting against him behind his back. And why is that? Only because you're heads over heels in...

Luckily for Harry, the captain's whistle sounded and broke his train of thought. Ginny shot straight at her brother and the boy found himself leaning forward and desperately clutching the bench he was sitting on. What was she doing? The _Cleansweep_ had a terrible acceleration, didn't she remember that? Ron would have a field day. Harry found himself frowning at Ron across the quidditch pitch, before he guiltily looked away. After all, he was the one Harry was supposed to be supporting.

However, midway to the ring Ginny swapped strategies and entered one of the zigzags Harry remembered from the previous day. These both caused her to speed up and really confused Ron, so in the end she managed to trick him into protecting the left ring while she scored through the central.

"YES!" Harry jumped up with his fist in the air. Seeing Ron turn around to look at him with confusion, the boy quickly brought his arm down and sat on the bench, in an attempt to pretend it wasn't him who had let out the enthusiastic yell. He pretended to look indifferent, or even a bit down in the dumps after his friend had missed a shot. This was in total contrast to his internal celebration, so it was no wonder Hermione gave him an odd glance. His face looked weird, stuck between the pretense and his actual emotions.

It took all of his willpower not to jump again when Ginny scored a second time, utilising a corkscrew motion to make her movement unpredictable. Luckily, Harry's torment soon came to an end, though a new one was to follow. Ron started predicting the pattern again, seeing what Ginny would do and saving her shots one after the other. His friend's mood sank lower and lower but he tried his best not to show it. His guilty conscience even prompted him to jump and shout enthusiastically at few of the saved shots, in an effort to make up for rooting for Ginny moments ago.

On the inside, however, he was starting to panic. What if Ginny didn't get accepted on the team? How would she feel? Would she think it was all a cruel joke, a favour he was doing to her brother so that he'd look better in Angelina's eyes?

This looked horribly plausible in the moment, so Harry did his best not to dwell on it, but in the end he did. How could he explain it wasn't like that? Would she believe him? Or would she remain angry with him for who knows how long? Harry was terribly frightened of this possibility, and not because of her Bat Bogey Hex.

However, a solution presented itself. Alicia joined in, and apparently that was what Ginny needed. Together, they wove a new pattern in the air and started scoring again. Harry's hopes creeped back up. Soon Ron also devised the new strategy and started saving the shots, but not all of them. His friend desperately kept count of the shots that went in and those that were saved. In the end, when Angelina's whistle sounded again and ended the tryouts, the ratio of saved to succesful was about one to one. Harry anxiously observed Ginny as she landed and approached his captain. Would she consider this good enough, he wondered. Would Ginny get on the team?

He again leaned forward in his seat, staring at the two girls as if his life depended on it. His heart sank when he saw Angelina pat the Weasley on the shoulder. That's it, he told himself, she's telling her it was a good game, but not good enough. His fingers were hurting from the force he was clutching the bench with.

Right after she patted her on the shoulder, Angelina extended her hand. Ginny shook it.

Harry leaned back and let out a giant sigh of relief before relinquishing his iron grip on the bench. She's in, she's in, he thought, giddy with joy, smiling wide like a madman.

"Well, you sure are happy Ginny got on the team, aren't you, Harry?" Hermione remarked.

Cold sweat ran down the boy's back as he turned towards his friend. She had an ironic look, with one eyebrow raised and the corners of her mouth curved slightly upwards.

"Of... of course I am. Why wouldn't I be happy about Ron's sister?" he stammered, trying to defend himself.

"Ron's sister? Are you certain this is all she is to you?" his friend responded.

Bloody Merlin's beard, she's onto me, Harry realised, horrified. This was the end. Hermione would tell Ron all about it, starting the disastrous chain of events Harry had dreaded.

As if reading his thoughts, the girl said:

"Don't worry about Ron, Harry. I won't say a thing. Now you can tell me what happened yesterday on the quidditch pitch."

"Well, we trained." Harry blurted out.

"What _really_ happened." Hermione pressed on, smiling wide like the Cheshire Cat.

"Umm... that's it." the boy stated, deciding he'd better keep that awkward hug secret.

Hermione regarded him with amusement, before seeing the truth in his eyes. Her smile vanished and her eyes widened as she drew back and sized him up from head to toes, like he was some interesting magical creature. She then threw him a reproachful glance, before checking to see if there were any other people left on the stands. Harry could see a storm was coming.

"You boys are so thick sometimes! Are you telling me you and Ginny were alone the entire evening yesterday and all you did was play bloody Quidditch?!"

Harry was thrown off-balance by this new straight-to-the point Hermione, so all he could manage was:

"Yep."

"Yep? Yep? Then why did I throw the bubotuber pus at Ron in the first place?" the girl stormed, glaring menacingly at her friend.

"Wait, you did what?" now it was Harry's turn to be shocked.

"You didn't really think it was an accident, did you? Come on, Harry, you know what I mean. Just muster up the courage and ask her out."

The boy just stood next to her and regarded his friend with silent shock.

"Urghh! Boys!" the girl grunted after she got no response. She got up and loomed over Harry.

"Fine! One last chance. Today during Experimental Magic I'll have Ron sit with me somewhere away from you and Ginny. However, you had better make a move already. After tonight I'm done playing matchmaker for you two." the girl stated crossly, before picking up her bag and heading for the exit, leaving her friend alone.

* * *

Hermione's ultimatum turned what would have otherwise been a perfect afternoon into a really tough one for Harry. Both Ron and Ginny were practically bursting at the seams with joy. After they told the twins all about the tryouts during lunch, all Weasleys decided this occasion was worth a celebration and brought up snacks from the kitchen to the Gryffindor common room. Along with some butterbeers, this made for a really nice party.

However, this also meant Harry's acting skills were once again put to the test. Outwardly, he had to be overflowing with joy for his friends' success. So he played his part, drinking butterbeers with Ron and Ginny and even betting on the height of an Explosive Snap tower together with Fred and George. However, he barely needed Hermione's pointed looks to remind him of the challenge that awaited.

On the inside, he was plagued with worry. A part of him rejoiced at the thought that he would finally ask Ginny out. A different one accused him of treachery, pointing out that Ron would in no case be happy to know that Harry was seeing his sister. Nor would Fred and George be, for that matter. However, both of these voices were eclipsed by the one that just wondered if Ginny shared his feelings. What if she just said she had never considered him more than a friend? What if she didn't want to go out with him? He'd look like the worst kind of fool.

As the clock ticked and five o'clock came nearer and nearer, and along with it the Experimental Magic class, Harry dwelled more and more on this prospect, until it was all he could think about. He was furious at Hermione, he was furious at himself and there was no way to escape. The boy knew his friend was right. He had to do it at some point, so if it were done when it was done, it would be better if it was done sooner.

* * *

"Welcome... to your first Experimental Magic class!" Professor Ortington exclaimed dramatically, as he swung open the door of the room. He ran in, overflowing with enthusiasm, followed by the twenty or so students he had led there from the entry hall.

Harry had never been in this room before. Like the Divination classroom, it was on the top of one of the towers, though not one of the main ones. However, it was broader than the Gryffindor or Northern towers, so the room itself was also more spacious, roughly half the size of the Great Hall. It was circular and amphitheatrical, the last row rising about 10 feet above the central podium. Scattered all over the rows were sets of two pouffes with small glass tables between them. On the level of the last row, windows spanned the whole wall.

"Now, let me make something clear from the start." the professor spoke, bringing Harry's attention back to him.

"Experimental magic is all about imagination and willpower. There are no rules or rulebooks, or any books for that matter."

Upon hearing this most of the students smiled. Only Hermione could be seen shaking her head disapprovingly.

"This is, in fact, what makes the wizarding world, for better or worse, different from the muggle world. In their world, everything is regulated; everything obeys some sort of law. Magic, however, inherently adheres to no rules. A spell can be created to do almost anything, should one imagine it and set their sights on creating it.

Nevertheless, there are some useful guidelines one could follow when creating their own spells. Also, some spells mix better than others. However, we'll leave that for next time. It's the first lesson, so let's get straight to the interesting part!"

As he said that, the professor suddenly swung around, hitting some of the students with his long braid. Harry had ducked, already having some experience with Ortington's abrupt way of moving around.

Taking out his wand, the professor pointed it at one of the windows as he muttered something under his breath. He then thrust his hand forward, while also twisting it, as if he was trying to unlock a door. A silver and blue spark shot forward from his wand tip and sunk into the window. The glass suddenly came alive and flowed down from the frame like water. At the bottom of the window, it separated into dozens of small drops which levitated back upwards. In the air, they took on the shape of butterflies and started fluttering around the room, amazing all of the students. All this time, Ortington was muttering an incantaion under his breath. Finally, after about half a minute, the butterflies gathered in a swarm and flew towards the empty window frame. There, they once again melted together to form the window.

Ortington finally broke the charm and shoved the wand back under his belt. Smiling from ear to ear, he turned to look at his students' reactions.

"This is what my class will be about." he proclaimed, pleased with the amazed looks he got from everybody.

"Now let's get to work! Please pick a partner and try to come up with a custom spell you want to create together! A few tips: if you are combining spells, it usually helps if the incantation is a combination of the starting charms as well. Also, I've left some demiguise hair at each table. Wrapping it around your wand while casting destabilises it, making it weaker, but also more likely to successfully cast an untuned custom spell. I'll pass through all of the teams and try to help you out. Good luck!"

True to her word, Hermione sped towards Ron and partnered up with him before he could even think about asking Harry. She then promptly dragged him to the uppermost row, sending her other friend a pointed look.

Harry quickly scanned the crowd for Ginny. He soon found her looking around for a partner as well. The boy hurried towards her, afraid she'd see Luna or some other friend and team up with them.

"Hey Ginny. I was wondering if you want to do this together?" he asked after he had reached her.

"Sure, Harry." the girl smiled at him, before the two headed for the uppermost row as well, almost exactly opposite Ron and Hermione. This was about a third as far away as Harry had been from his friend on the spectator's bench today. Certainly far enough so that Ron couldn't hear or see anything, Harry thought with relief.

"So... what spell should we make, Harry?" Ginny asked him once she had plopped down in one of the pouffes. The boy pondered on that as he sat himself across the table from her. With his mind set on his mission, he could barely think about anything else. He was also further distracted by Ginny's eyes and her slight smile. It was insufferable.

Knowing he had to produce some answer, Harry scrambled in his head for a spell he'd like to create. His mind went back to his last Defense against the Dark Arts lesson, when Sirius had demonstrated the Shield Charm to the class. Once again, his godson had acted as his partner. This time though he had been on the offensive, while his godfather had protected himself with the Shield Charm. The boy remembered he had been pretty surprised to find out that none of the spells in his arsenal had managed to breach it, not even when he tried his best with the offensive spells.

"How about something against the Shield Charm?" Harry proposed. He then told Ginny the story he'd just remembered.

"Hmm... and how would you counter it? It's a real charm, and I don't think anything we come up with can deal with one of those just yet." the girl replied.

"I wasn't thinking about countering it, more like turning it against the caster. Maybe causing it to envelop the person entirely, trapping them or something like that." the boy suggested.

Ginny considered that for a few moments, apparently thinking it over. Then she grinned mischievously and spoke:

"How about this: the shield envelops the caster in a ball which then starts bouncing from the walls and the ceiling?"

Harry looked at her amazed, before they both started laughing at the same time.

"What? How did you think of this?" he asked her after their laughter had ebbed.

"I just thought about Fred and George and their Bludger. I'm still mad about it, these two ruined your birthday, you wouldn't have put on the mask in front of Fleur otherwise. Well, now it's payback time. Let's give them a taste of their own medicine."

"Alright, let's do it. I shall have my revenge!" Harry proclaimed with false pathos. Ginny giggled again.

Working together with her was fun. In a way, it was very different from working with either Ron or Hermione. Like her brother, Ginny had a good sense of humor and this meant there was a lot of banter and not only work, but she could also be serious when needed like Hermione was.

Ask her now, one of his internal voices. You are having fun, Ron's far enough, the way is clear. However, Harry simply couldn't will himself to do it. He was about to do it many times but either Ginny smiled at him and just fried his brain for a second or his anxiety prevailed. After what felt like the fifth try in a single minute, the boy gave up and decided to focus on the spell.

The two weren't really making any progress with it though. They took turns casting the shield charm and having the other try to turn it into a ball, but it didn't work, not even with the help of demiguise hair.

They knew the problem was the incantation. They mixed some random latin words in some semblance of a spell, but no matter how hard they tried to imagine it or how much they put their will into it, all came down to the incantation in the end.

"What about _Pom Pom_?" Ginny asked, a bit exasperated after failing yet again.

" _Pom Pom_?" Harry grinned widely.

"That doesn't sound like a spell."

"It doesn't have to. Remember the spell Ortington cast on the train. The incantation was just some random gibberish. Merlin's beard, it even had Welsh in it! I think the sound of it is the key, and _Pom Pom_ sounds just like the noise a ball would make as it bounces off." Ginny replied.

Harry could not argue with that, so they decided they would try it out. The boy cast a small Shield Charm around himself, while Ginny pointed her wand at him. She flicked it twice before saying the incantation:

" _Pom Pom_!"

In an instant the shield around Harry closed in a shining ball. Because it was small, it didn't trap the boy inside. As Ginny flicked her wand again, the ball shot upwards, bounced from the ceiling, fell down again, bounced from the table, back to the ceiling and so on until the girl flicked the wand one last time and the ball dissipated. She was chuckling uncontrollably.

" _Pom Pom_ worked! It actually did!" she exclaimed.

"Well, I guess Fred and George have more than the Bat Bogey Hex to watch out for now." Harry noted.

 _Pom Pom_ really fit the spell like a glove, as the boy also managed casting the spell from the first try when he used it. Their job done, Ginny and Harry spent the rest of the lesson playing ping pong while using a Shield Charm as a ball and their wands as bats. They were just finishing their tiebreaker when professor Ortington finally came over to them, their team the last one left.

"Oh, you succeeded! Great job!" he exclaimed with genuine surprise, before he knelt down next to the table to watch the match. Distracted by his sport commentary ("Mr. Potter has the ball now, this will be tricky for Ms. Weasley... what a spectacular comeback!"), the two broke the charm and turned to their professor.

"You know, I didn't think the success rate would be this big the first time around. 5 out of 20, this is amazing! I'll speak to Dumbledore, hope he allows me to schedule lessons more often"

"Who else made it, Professor?" Ginny asked.

"Well, Miss Lovegood came up with quite an effective Wrackspurt Detection Charm, even though her partner wasn't of much help. She didn't even know the things exist, silly girl."

Harry and Ginny exchanged befuddled glances. Up until now, they didn't know wrackspurts existed either.

"Meanwhile, Miss Granger and Mister Weasley... wait a second, I've got an idea! Follow me, you two!"

Curious to see what their teacher was up to, the two students followed him down to the central podium. Once there, he also called over Ron and Hermione from their seats.

"Your four classmates have come up with some really interesting custom spells." Ortington spoke to the rest of the students.

"I think all of you will enjoy a demonstration. Now it's time for the two teams to cast their spells on each other!"

Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione glanced at eachother with worry. None of the teams knew what spell the other one had come up with.

"Team _Similaris_ will go first!" the professor announced. Guessing that this was the name of the spell Ron and Hermione had come up with, Harry braced for the worst.

His two friends exchanged conspiratory glances and smiled knowingly. Ron raised his wand at Harry, Hermione- at Ginny, and both spoke at the same time:

" _Similaris_ Victor Krum!"

" _Similaris_ Fleur Delacour!"

Harry felt hot around his throat, but there was no visible effect of the charm. Looking at Ginny, she saw she hadn't been affected either. Turning back to his friends, puzzled, he asked:

"Vas that oll?"

The rough voice that came out of his throat was nothing like Harry's voice. In fact, it was the heavily accented voice of the Bulgarian Seeker, Victor Krum. As comprehension dawned on him, he told Ginny:

"Ve 'av zeir voicez."

"I know. Zey turned me into ze Phlegm" the girl replied, her voice a carbon copy of Fleur's.

Ron and Hermione still had smirks on their faces when they reversed the spell.

"OK. Your turn now." the professor grinned at Harry and Ginny. They needed no further prompting.

" _Protego!"_ shouted the boy as he encased his friends in a Shield Charm. They regarded him with confusion, before the girl next to him also brought out her wand, gave it two flicks and said:

" _Pom Pom_."

The shield quickly formed into a ball, trapping Ron and Hermione inside. Ginny gave her wand a little flick and the ball started bouncing off the ground like a basketball. Her brother and the other girl were jumping around inside, struggling to keep their balance. Ginny didn't keep it up for more than a few seconds though, so when Ron and Hermione stumbled out from inside, they were extremely dizzy, but not hurt in any way.

"And now we come to the end of our first lesson!" Ortington announced under the applause of the students.

"I'm not a big fan of scheduling, so I can't tell you when the next lesson will be exactly. Keep an eye on your message boards so you don't miss it! See you all soon!"

While most of the students headed for the exit, chatting amongst themselves about the unusual lesson they had had, Ron and Hermione stayed behind, both still dizzy from their bouncing around. As Harry approached to help them, though, Hermione straightened up a bit and shot a glare at him, before looking in Ginny's direction. The message was clear. Now or never.

After assuring Ginny the professor would help their friends, Harry walked along with her back to the Gryffindor tower. For the most part they were talking about how they were going to use their new spell to prank the twins and Sirius. Harry knew that this wasn't the conversation he was supposed to be having with her right now. There he was, strolling the castle corridors alone with a girl at night and all they were talking about was practical jokes. His internal voice was just getting angrier and angrier at him every second, yelling "Do it!" all the time, however Harry's anxiety had his lips sealed more securely than a Gringotts vault.

Once they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, however, the conversation ceased. Harry suddenly felt that the moment had come. His anxiety melted away as an ice sculpture caught in a dragon's breath and he finally felt ready to make the step.

"Ginny?" he called just after the girl had said the password.

She turned around and regarded him with interest.

"Yes, Harry?"

"I was wondering if maybe you'd like to come to Hogsmeade with me next weekend." the boy finally let it out.

Now all cards were on the table, he thought. What would she say? What would she do?

Ginny smiled and walked over to him. Harry was only vaguely aware of the diminishing distance between them, standing in the gloom of the autumn evening, so he was a bit surprised when he felt his hand in hers.

"I'd love to." she said as she led him inside the common room. His internal voice gave out one final triumphant cry before fading into nothing.

* * *

 **A.N.:** It has again been quite some time, so first sorry for that. I still haven't decided on an update schedule for this story, but before you stone me to death, I also have some good news. I'm still working on the story, slower than I did last year, but certainly faster than the start of this year as I ditched some other hobbies and some time freed up. As a result I now have a reserve of 6 unpublished chapters to this story on my PC.

While I would rather complete the story before starting frequent updates (I don't want to build up hype and then leave you hanging), this reserve allows me to be a bit more lenient in that respect, so expect another chapter in the beggining of June, maybe sooner. Meanwhile I'll keep on writing, I think I have almost reached the halfpoint of the story already. **  
**

That's it for now, hope you enjoyed the chapter! Stay tuned and PM me if you have any questions on the story so far!

P.S: In the next chapter, the exchange programme will finally begin!

P.P.S.: Are the chapters getting too long for your taste or is it fine? I'm asking because the chapters in the reserve get even longer and the more I write, the longer they get. At what word count would you say I have to cap 1 chapter?


	10. The Newcomers

**_Chapter 10: The Newcomers_**

"You're amazing, Hermione. Thank you." Harry said grinning as he joined his friend by the fireplace on Monday morning.

She regarded him with amusement. Raising an eyebrow, the girl asked:

"How should I understand this?"

"We're going to Hogsmeade next Saturday." the boy replied, smilingfrom ear to ear.

Hermione also smiled widely.

"Well, it's about time. I was starting to get tired of you two. Where do you plan to take her?"

Harry opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted by a wolf whistle. Turning around, he saw Ron standing at the bottom of the stairs to the boys' dormitory, grinning and winking at him. All blood drained from Harry's face.

"You got a new girlfriend, mate?" the Weasley asked as he sat on the sofa next to his friends. Judging from his smile, Harry guessed he hadn't figured out who he and Hermione were talking about. Therefore, disaster could still be averted.

"Yes." he confirmed, knowing that denying it would only cause his friend to grow suspicious.

"Not one from our experimental magic class, by any chance?" Ron continued the interrogation. Harry was starting to sweat now. This was too close for comfort. Unable to respond verbally, he simply nodded.

"And her name is?" the Weasley pressed on, slightly annoyed at his friend's silence. Harry desperately stared at Hermione, but no help came from her. Clearing his throat, he uttered:

"Luna Lovegood."

Ron eyed him with disbelief, while Hermione seemed irritated by his lie. However, this didn't really matter, as when he saw his friend didn't seem to be joking, Ron began musing out loud:

"Well, I guess she is really nice if you look past all the... you know."

Harry couldn't believe it. He was saved. Desperately clutching onto this straw, he tried to further convince Ron:

"Yes, she is nice indeed. She has lovely hair, and it turns out wrackspurts are real after all..."

"Don't be ridiculous Harry, you're not seeing Luna Lovegood." Hermione chimed in, mercilessly cutting the straw. Harry sent her a pleading glance that she disregarded. All hope was lost.

"I knew it! It was a joke, right? You aren't really going out with someone, right Harry?" Ron asked as he poured himself a cup of tea.

"He's seeing Ginny." Hermione stated just as Ron was bringing the teacup to his lips. Startled, he dropped it on the floor.

What followed wasn't quite the way Harry had imagined it. In his mind, Ron always threw a tantrum, as his friend usually did when he was angry, accused Harry of being a traitor and started casting spells like crazy, Harry usually ending somewhere in the hospital wing in the process.

However, apparently this shock was too big and Ron reacted in a totally unexpected way. Remaining calm, he repaired the tea cup and set it back on the table before looking quizzically at Hermione. The girl in turn looked towards the other boy.

"Sorry, Harry, he would have known sooner or later anyway."

Seeing no signs that any of this was a joke of some sort, Ron slowly turned his gaze towards Harry. The boy felt his presence as ostensibly as the one of a dementor.

Seeing that his friend didn't try to deny anything in any way, Ron gave off a sigh and leaned forward, holding his head in his hands.

"How long has this been going on?" he asked bitterly, the anger underlying in his voice starting to show.

"I only asked her out yesterday." Harry replied.

Ron sat back up and regarded his friend with a momentary confusion. Apparently he had been expecting Harry to say it had been going on for some time. If Harry had had his way, that's when his friend was actually going to learn about him meeting Ginny indeed. However, Hermione had thrown that option out of the window. Reminded of her betrayal, Harry shot her yet another accusing glance.

"Well then, it's very simple. You just tell her you changed your mind." the Weasley suggested as if it were the obvious answer.

Hermione regarded him with shock. Harry did his best not to gawk at his friend.

"Why would I do that?" he asked, starting to get a little angry himself.

"Ginny's too young to be seeing boys. I know she fancies you and all..." Ron explained.

"And I fancy her." Harry interrupted him, both terrified and thrilled to have uttered those words.

Ron's eyes snapped wide open. He furrowed his brows, as if to signal the coming storm.

"She's only fourteen!" he stated angrily.

"So? That doesn't stop half the school." Harry retorted.

"I was fourteen last year as well."

"Cho is one thing. Ginny...no, I won't let you do this." Ron shouted as he stood up.

"Why would I listen?" Harry retorted, jumping up as well. His reaction seemed to push the other boy over some invisible edge, distilling the Weasley's rage into cold hostility. The blood that had flooded into his face ebbed again and his face returned to normal, leaving his piercing glare as the only sign he was in some sort of conflict.

"A friend would listen." the Weasley remarked coldly.

"I guess this means you aren't my friend anymore, mate."

A moment of silence followed. Harry was just too shocked by what his friend had just said to answer in any way. Taking his silence for a sign of his friend conceding, Ron continued:

"It doesn't have to be like this. Tell her you won't go out..."

"I will." Harry replied, looking his friend in the eyes. There he saw only intense disapproval.

"You've made your choice then. Have a nice day." Ron spoke as he got up. He then picked up the teacup from the table and smashed it in the ground before he stormed out of the room.

"Thanks, Hermione." the remaining boy remarked with sarcasm that left behind a bitter aftertaste.

"Oh, come on, Harry, how could I know he would react like that? He can't be serious, can he?" the flabbergasted girl asked.

"I think he is." Harry replied, studying the pattern of the embers in the fireplace in an attempt to distract himself from his thoughts.

"But why would he care if you were going out with Ginny? He should be happy, if anything! You're his best friend, and she fancies you!"

"I guess it's a brother thing." her friend told her, thinking the situation over. He didn't exactly learn a lot about normal sibling relationships from his interactions with his bully cousin Dudley. However, he had spent enough time with the Weasleys to know that this was all about the "little sister" syndrome. Even though Ginny could go toe to toe with any of her brothers and come out on top, in their eyes she would always remain their baby sister, and that image didn't mix well with dating.

Harry had no doubts about how the rest of the family would react. Mrs. Weasley would probably be happy, Mr. Weasley would maybe act a bit odd, but go along with it, and Bill and Charlie could be made to see reason. The younger Weasleys would all surely react like Ron. Harry only hoped this fight wouldn't cost him his welcome at the Burrow.

"This is outrageous! It's Ginny's choice, not his! We'll see about that!" Hermione stated crossly as she got up. The girl encouragingly patted her friend on the shoulder before heading for the portrait hole.

* * *

Breakfast wasn't fun as usual without Ron to trade banter with and Hermione to scold the both of them. Both had sat away from their usual places at the middle of the table and were instead seated on the end near the teachers' table: Ron obviously to distance himself from Harry. Hermione, on the other hand, was desperately attempting to make him see reason, which was why she had also moved. She seemed to be unsuccessful so far.

"Good morning!" Ginny greeted cheerily as she sat down next to Harry.

"Morning." he replied glumly.

"Hey, why are you so down in the dumps today?" she asked, noticing his sunken face. That was when she noticed Ron at the end of the table.

"Oh. You told him." she said, putting two and two together.

"Well, Hermione did. Sorry."

"No, no, it's OK. He's your friend after all, and it's not that big of a secret." the girl smiled at him.

"I'm not really sure we're friends right now." Harry replied.

Ginny raised an eyebrow and looked down the table, studying her brother more carefully now. He was glaring daggers at them.

"So he didn't take the news well, I see." Ginny spoke, prompting Harry for more information.

"No. He kept saying we can't... you know, go out. That we shouldn't go to Hogsmeade. I got mad at him and he got mad at me and things just spiraled out of control. Sorry." he apologised again.

"Well, it's not up to him to decide what I should or shouldn't do." the girl replied before she looked back at her brother, shooting her own glare.

Luckily, the staring contest was interrupted by Professor Dumbledore, whose cough brought the attention of all students to him.

"Before we all dig in what I'm certain will be an excellent breakfast I have an important announcement to make. But first I'd like to thank you all for your enthusiastic participation in the exchange programme. I believe we got application letters from almost everybody who were eligible and quite a few who weren't. As a result, we now have the list of students who will spend the following year studying at Beauxbatons Academy of Magic. I received word from Madam Maxime yesterday that her students were similarly eager. As a result, we've decided to move the starting date of the exchange to today."

Murmurs and whispers took over the hall for a few seconds before Dumbledore raised his hands again, asking for attention.

"Madam Maxime and her students will arrive a few minutes from now. I advise all chosen for the exchange to head back to their dormitories and pack their trunks, as they will be leaving tonight. Everybody else, please demonstrate Hogwarts' hospitality to our foreign guests. We'll start breakfast once they have joined us. Thank you."

As the headmaster sat back down, students started standing up from their tables and heading for the dormitories. However, the majority remained seated, awaiting the arrival of the French students. Harry briefly wondered who would tend to Madame Maxime's horses, now that Hagrid was away.

He didn't have time to ponder on it for too long, since merely five minutes after Dumbledore had spoken the French headmistress crossed the threshold of the Great Hall. The headmaster stood up, followed by the students and the rest of her staff.

Madame Maxime strolled between the tables, beaming at her colleague. For a brief moment Harry could swear she also looked at him, but he was probably imagining it.

"Dumblydorr." she purred as Dumbledore kissed her hand.

"Madame Maxime, welcome to Hogwarts once again. Please, take a seat." the headmaster invited her to the staff's table and sat back down, followed by the students and the teachers. Meanwhile, her students, who had followed after their headmistress, began scattering in the hall, looking for empty spots. The light blue hue of their uniforms was in stark contrast with the Hogwarts robes' black colour.

As Gryffindor had lots of exchange participants, many seats remained free for the Beauxbatons people. One girl sat on Ron's vacant spot right opposite Harry and Ginny. While she was looking for something in her bag, the two studied her appearance. The short, pale-skinned brunette had ditched her blue hat and wore her hair in a ponytail. Realising they were looking at her, the girl raised her head and studied them in turn, carefully taking into account their every feature. She showed no signs of noticing the scar.

"Cheryl Derriere. Nice to meet you." she smiled as she extended her hand. Harry and Ginny smiled back and shook her hand in turns, introducing themselves as well. At the mention of Harry's name her eyes darted towards his forehead and maybe this time she noticed something, but she didn't make a comment.

"Which year are you in? I'm in my fifth." she said.

"Oh, so is Harry. I'm still in my fourth." Ginny replied.

The French student threw Harry a compassionate glance.

"O.W.L.s , huh? I don't envy you. I think having exams in your fifth year is way too early, in Beauxbatons we only have them when we graduate. Anyway, good luck!"

"Thanks, but how do you know about that? O.W.L.s, I mean." the boy asked, slightly puzzled.

"Oh, my mum used to study here. She lived in Edinburgh before she met my dad and moved to France. "

"What do they do for a living? Your mum and dad, I mean." Ginny asked.

"Mum runs an owl shop back home in Calais. She's currently trying to get cats to coexist with the owls. Dad is my Astronomy teacher, he also came with me for the exchange. Look, there he is!" the girl said just before pointing at someone near the hall entrance. The two Hogwarts students turned around to look in the same direction as her.

The girl and her dad had a good overall resemblance, their eyes and hair being practically identical. However, there was some cruelty in the man's facial features that was not present in the girl's. They were sharp and angular, giving him the likeness of a bird of prey. This likeness was only increased by his sharp, pointy, upward curved goatee, which together with his crooked nose somewhat resembled a beak. The wizard turned to look at his daughter, but when he noticed Harry was looking at him, he shifted his attention to the boy. The Gryffindor seeker couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable under the penetrating stare, like the one of a falcon that has spotted a mouse.

Unwilling to discuss this person and hoping to possibly avoid contact with him, the boy turned back to Cheryl and changed the subject:

"So your mother is Scottish? Then you probably also got a letter from Hogwarts?"

"Indeed, I could have also studied here. Hogwarts is actually even a bit closer when going back home for the summer."

"So why aren't you studying here, then?" Ginny asked, befuddled.

Apparently she had touched upon a delicate subject, since Cheryl remained silent for a few moments. Harry was starting to think they'd get no answer whatsoever when she finally replied:

"My dad isn't really a fan of Hogwarts. He doesn't like the system here."

Harry and Ginny didn't say anything in response to that, as the plates had just filled up with food. They still kept up the conversation with Cheryl during the breakfast, but tried to avoid the subject of her father, as they could see she didn't feel comfortable talking about that.

Just as the breakfast was towards its end, the Hogwarts' owls flew in, carrying letters and packages for the students as usual. One package stood out from the rest though. It was a long, slender object, wrapped in brown paper and carried by three barn owls. Just as they were above Ginny, the birds dropped it on the table.

At first both she and Harry were really befuddled, but they soon recognised the distinctive shape and realised what must hide underneath the wrapping paper. They turned their heads and looked towards the teachers' table. Professor McGonagall was currently treating the three owls to some bacon. When she noticed her students were looking at her, she smiled at them and sent them a small wave.

Ginny beamed first at her, then at Harry. Then she got to unwrapping the package. She was caught off-guard when she saw what awaited her inside.

"A _Nimbus 2001_? You didn't tell me it was a _Nimbus_!" the girl exclaimed.

"It must have slipped my mind somehow." Harry responded, grinning.

Cheryl's eyes were glued on the _Nimbus_. She blinked several times, apparently not believing what she was seeing.

"Never flown one of these before." she remarked with an awed voice.

"Can I give it a test ride later? Please, I promise nothing will happen to it!"

Ginny smiled and nodded her approval. The French girl's eyes lit with even more excitement.

"Maybe we can also play a friendly game later?" she suggested.

"I also brought my broom from Beauxbatons. What position do you play?"

"Chaser."

"Seeker."

"Oh, a fellow Seeker! I'm looking forward to seeing who of us will catch the Snitch first." the exchange student told Harry, a trail of mischief in her voice.

"Speaking of that, are there any available positions on the teams here? I've been playing in one of the Beauxbatons teams since last year and I'd like to keep practicing. Also, I've heard that the greatest quidditch players all started here, so maybe I'll also pick up a few new tricks along the way."

"Aww, I'm sorry, you missed the Gryffindor trials by a pinch. I only got on the team yesterday." Ginny replied.

"But I think some of the other houses might still need more people in their teams. I've heard Ravenclaw needs a reserve Seeker."

"Actually, we can play the friendly game right now." Harry said as he checked his program. On the top of it, magical letters had appeared, written in Dumbledore's familiar swirly writing.

"As a celebration for the arrival of our French guests, I am excusing all Hogwarts students from their classes until noon. Feel free to mingle with our friends from Beauxbatons and spend your morning as you desire." the boy read out loud.

Both girls smiled as they heard this.

"Great, I'll go fetch my broom from the carriage then!" the French girl said as she stood up and rushed to the door. After telling Ginny to wait for him in the entrance hall, Harry also got up and went to get his _Firebolt._ He certainly had no desire to fly on a _Cleansweep 5_ again.

* * *

"No offense, Harry, but you're a very lousy Keeper." Ginny noted after they paused the game for a bit after he had missed yet another shot.

She had a point. Harry had thought that maybe he'd perform a little better on his own broom, but he still couldn't save more than one shot out of ten. Playing Keeper just wasn't meant for him, now he could say that for sure.

Still, even though he was no match for the girls (especially Ginny, who was fast as lightning on her new broom), the three of them were having a lot of fun. The only thing Harry regretted was that Ron wasn't here to play with them as well.

"Don't worry about it, I'm also terrible with any ball larger than a Snitch." Cheryl assured him, thinking of a wrong reason for his glumness.

"As a Beater, I can't protect even myself from bludgers, so my team is in for a tough game. When chasing, I just keep dropping the quaffle, but playing Keeper has got to be the worst. Nothing in common with the Seeker position whatsoever, so I'm usually a sitting duck against anyone with a marginal experience as a Chaser. No, my brother is the Keeper in our family. You two got any siblings?"

Harry shook his head.

"Six older brothers." Ginny said as she hovered next to them.

The French girl regarded her with amazement.

"Six? I could barely manage one, how do you deal with six?"

"Lots of patience. And a Bat Bogey Hex now and then." Ginny replied, smirking.

Cheryl broke out in laughter. When she calmed down, she begged the other girl:

"You should teach me that hex, please! My brother is sometimes a nightmare to deal with, so any sibling repellant will be more than welcome! Anyway, do any of your brothers play Quidditch as well? Maybe we can gather enough players for a real game?"

"Well, some of them graduated already, but two of them are Beaters and my youngest brother, Ron, is a Keeper."

At the mention of his former friend's name, Harry's mood sank even lower. Noticing the boy's frown, the French girl looked at him with confusion and asked:

"What's the matter? You don't like them?"

Harry gave Ginny a small nod. He didn't feel like explaining this himself.

"No, they're friends." the Weasley explained.

"He's even best friends with Ron, but they are angry at each other right now."

"Oh, I see. If it isn't too personal, may I ask why? I do have some experience with stubborn older brothers, so I might be able to help." Cheryl suggested.

Harry and Ginny exchanged awkward glances. They weren't sure if they should say anything, or what they should say if they did. Technically, they weren't going out yet, but Ron was acting like they were. The whole thing was really confusing and none of them felt like explaining it to the French girl. However, the glance exchange was all Cheryl needed to understand what was going on.

"Ah, as Dumas said, _cherchez la femme._ " she spoke, smiling coyly at the two Hogwarts students. Harry could feel the blood rushing to his cheeks.

"Yes, from my experience brothers never react sensibly in this kind of situations. They just can't get it out of their heads that we're not their baby sisters anymore. Take mine for an example. When I first started going out with boys, he was insufferable for weeks, ambushing them near their common rooms and trying to scare them away from me. It took quite a lot of yelling from me and howlers from mum, but in the end he went along with it. Don't worry, give it a few weeks and your brother will come to the same conclusion as mine." the French girl assured Ginny.

Harry really hoped it would take less than a few weeks for Ron to see reason. He missed having his best friend by his side.

* * *

It was time for the afternoon classes. Ginny waved good-bye to Cheryl and Harry and left for her own classes. The French girl went with the Gryffindor Seeker, as she had decided to sign up with the Gryffindors for the exchange, so she would join his class.

"What do we have first?" the exchange student asked after the Weasley girl separated from them.

"Herbology. Right through here." Harry replied as he led the way. The corridors were more stuffed than usual, bustling with befuddled Beauxbatons who were trying to figure out their way to their first class at Hogwarts. Unfortunately, the packed corridors turned out not to be the only obstacle Harry and Cheryl had to face on their way to Herbology.

"Have some on me, frog eater! Nice and fresh from the lake, enjoy!" Peeves taunted them as he jumped out of his ambush. Before any of the students could react, the poltergeist flipped the metal bucket he was carrying upside down, showering Cheryl with slimy green frog legs. Her shocked gasp was accompanied by the ghost's triumphant cackle.

" _Mon Dieu!_ " the exchange student exclaimed. After she noticed Peeves hovering in the air, bent in half from laughing, her eyes narrowed, she furrowed her brows and aimed her wand at him.

"You will pay for that, _branleur_! _Reducto!_ " she yelled furiously.

Her spell flew right through the poltergeist, instead blasting the wall behind him. The ghost's wheezing doubled in intensity. Noticing the rage he had induced in the French girl, Peeves smiled from ear to ear and blew a loud raspberry at her before flying away, looking for his next victim.

"By Medea, how can you tolerate ghosts behaving like that?" the irritated Cheryl asked Harry while trying to yank the frog legs out of her hair with questionable success.

"This fellow would have been kicked out of Beauxbatons faster than a _Firebolt_ can fly!"

"Some people here share your opinion." Harry replied.

"However, Peeves tends to grow on you, even if he can be insufferable at times."

"I doubt that. Let's go, recess is almost over." the French girl said after she gave up on trying to get the last frog leg out of her hair, leaving it there as a weird fashion accessory.

* * *

Harry was glad he had Cheryl with him, as Ron's attitude towards him didn't show any improvements in Herbology. Despite all of Hermione's best efforts, the Weasley boy kept treating his former friend as a distant annoying relative he was forced to speak to occasionally. Harry had more than enough of that in Professor Sprout's class and by the end of it he felt like shoving the venomous tentacula sprout he and Cheryl had worked on down the Weasley's throat.

Needing some time to let off steam, Harry decided to sit away from Ron and Hermione, who was still relentlessly trying to reason with the Weasley, in their next class- History of Magic. In the first few minutes of the class, Cheryl shocked everyone by bringing out a piece of parchment from her bag and starting to take notes. Even Professor Binns, the Hogwarts ghost teaching the course, looked mildly surprised, which for him was the same as gawking. However, his surprise didn't change his monotonous, sleep-inducing tone and after a few minutes the French girl slowed down her writing until she eventually dropped her quill.

"How do you even manage to concentrate?" she asked Harry before noticing he hadn't even taken out parchment from his bag. Looking around, she soon realised this was true for everyone besides Hermione.

"I don't. No matter how hard you try, Binns just makes it impossible. I usually just use Hermione's notes in the end of the term." he noted.

"I can see why." the French girl said, trying to stifle a yawn.

History of Magic dragged on for what seemed like forever. However, fortunately even the most boring of classes come to an end eventually. Unfortunately, Harry and Cheryl slept right through it and neither Ron, nor Hermione noticed them.

About five minutes after the next class for the day had started, the exchange student woke up. After she got up and stretched, she took a look at her pocket watch.

" _Merde!"_ she cursed.

"We slept through the start of Astronomy! Come, Harry, my father doesn't like it when students are late!"

The boy woke up and quickly got up, startled. The two of them left the room and sprinted up the stairs to the Astronomy tower, Harry leading the way again. However, despite their speed, they were really late for their class.

"Twenty minutes late, so twenty points taken from Gryffindor." an unfamiliar voice addressed Harry as he entered the classroom. Looking around, he saw Cheryl's father was standing in the centre of the roofless room, with squinted eyes and lips curled in a frown.

"Excuse me, sir." Harry apologised as he sat down on the floor, quickly unfolding his star chart as the rest of the students.

"Apology accepted." the professor hissed back at him.

"Hello dad...uhh, professor Derrriere." Cheryl greeted as she entered, interrupting the exchange between Harry and her father. Surprised, the adult wizard turned to his daughter. His frown flipped into a benevolent smile.

"You needn't have come, Cheryl." he assured her, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"I've been told by Professor Sinistra that her students are moving a bit more... slowly with the material than we do at Beauxbatons. I'm not going to teach anything tonight that you already don't know. You are free to go."

The girl nodded and gave her dad a hug. Afterwards, she left, giving Harry a wave as she descended through the trapdoor.

The boy waved back, but this turned out to be a mistake. Noticing their exchanged greetings, Professor Derriere frowned and stared at Harry again, disecting him with his glare. The boy had the feeling the wizard had gotten a very wrong impression of the relationship between him and Cheryl. He gulped as the teacher slowly walked over to him.

"Mister Late? I have a question for you. Name the moons of Saturn discovered by the Italian wizard Cassini."

Harry was caught off-guard. Meanwhile, Hermione's hand shot up.

"Ummm... Ganymede, Io, Europa and Callisto?" Harry blurted out, just before realising those were moons of Jupiter.

The French Professor smirked unpleasantly.

"Five points taken from Gryffindor. What is the difference between the apocentre and the pericentre?"

Hermione's hand was still up, but this time Harry had no idea what his new teacher was even talking about.

"I don't know sir."

"Another five. Final question: name the largest body in the Asteroid Belt."

"Ceres." Harry shot out, unsure how he even remembered that.

The professor's smile vanished from his face. Apparently, he had been looking forward to Harry failing again.

"Well, at least you were paying a minimal amount of attention during your classes. Five points to Gryffindor. Now, students, let me introduce myself. My name is Pierre Derriere, Professor of Astronomy in Beauxbatons Academy of Magic. I will be your Astronomy teacher for the duration of the exchange programme. Let me be honest with you: I was not looking forward to my stay here, since I am well aware of the laughable Astronomy curriculum at Hogwarts. Your system is outdated and inefficient, as your classmate kindly demonstrated for us." the professor looked at Harry again and spread his lips in a fake grimace.

"However," he continued. ", I still believe Astronomy is an important part of a young witch or wizard's education, contrarily to what many of you think. Therefore, I take upon myself the hopeless task to bring your education up to the level I have come to expect from my French students. We have a lot of catching up to do. Today, we will start by covering all of the first year material."

Astronomy suddenly became as bad as Potions. The professor didn't teach them anything but just kept shooting questions left and right, expecting the students to know the answer already. Since he was apparently asking questions from the French first year material, students got most of the questions wrong. Hermione even didn't raise her hand to answer some of the questions, which intimidated the rest of the Gryffindors. They had all come to expect that whatever happened, Hermione always knew the answer.

"Your education is subpar." the professor stated after the lesson had come to an end. He then proceeded to hand out each student an English copy of the French first year Astronomy book and asked everybody to read it before their next lesson or not to bother to come at all. He also assigned essays on topics from the book to some people he was especially displeased with. Unsurprisingly, Harry was among them.

"Snape would be proud." the Seeker told Ron after all students had left the room. Part of him was hoping that being united by a common plight would help Ron change his mind.

"I guess he would be." the other boy said with indifference before he rushed forward, leaving Harry alone.

* * *

 **A.N.:** I am aware the story has been developing very slowly so far. However, now that the exchange began, all game pieces are finally in position. Things will start to get interesting in chapter 11 and chapter 12 is where a lot of things really kick off. Note: still not writing at a very fast pace, so sticking to the 1 chapter/month pace for now. Maybe once the story starts unfolding I'll also start writing a bit faster.


	11. The Three Broomsticks

**_Chapter 11: The Three Broomsticks_**

The week dragged on for what seemed like an eternity. No class was pleasant for Harry, as all the teachers kept droning on about the O.W.L.s and giving the students tons of homework. Potions and Astronomy were horrible though, especially without Ron by his side. The only classes he was looking forward to now were Defense against the Dark Arts and, ironically, Divination. Ginny's scheme still worked without fail and Harry got excellent grades whenever he delivered the description of his latest ill omen to the eager Professor Trelawney. He usually fell asleep during classes and kept having the greasy cloud dream.

That upset him a bit. Whenever he had dreamt recurring dreams in the past, usually they had turned out to be true and were in some way related to Voldemort. However, Harry couldn't see what this black cloud had to do with the Dark Lord, so he had told nobody but Ron and Hermione about his dream.

The only things that kept him going were Quidditch practice and his free time, spent mostly together with Ginny, Cheryl occasionally tagging along. While he and the Weasley girl still hadn't officially started seeing eachother, he found out that he liked spending more time with her in school and wondered why he hadn't mustered up his courage sooner.

Finally, Harry's terrible week came to an end. It was Saturday and the boy was waiting for Ginny in the Entrance Hall, somewhat anxious at the prospect of going out with her in _that_ way for the first time.

They had promised each other to meet at ten, but Harry's impatience and nervousness drove him to arrive half an hour earlier, so he was in for a long wait. While he stood there, Hermione and Ron passed him by. The girl sent him a coy smile and winked at him, while his other friend regarded him with hostility, probably aware who he was waiting for.

Luckily, Ginny also came down a bit early, so at a quarter to ten she and Harry showed the grumpy Filch their Hogsmeade permits and went out into the brisk autumn morning. As the two walked towards the exit of the castle grounds, however, clouds gathered on the horizon, moving rapidly in their direction. They weren't even halfway to Hogsmeade when the storm befell them, thunder cracked and it started pouring. Ginny looked at the sky with annoyance before she grabbed Harry's hand and the two ran towards Hogsmeade, hoping to reach the village before getting totally waterlogged.

"I really wish I could Apparate right now." the girl said as the two stopped to wait out the rain under a pine tree for a few moments, having realised trying to outrun it was pointless.

"You can't Apparate on school grounds." Harry remarked. When the befuddled Ginny looked at him, surprised by this sudden bit of trivia, he elaborated:

"Hang around Hermione long enough and you're bound to remember things like that."

Fortunately, the downpour had already devolved to regular rain by the time they reached Hogsmeade. Still, both of them were soaked to the bone and in dire need of a big warm fire.

"How about _The Three Broomsticks_?" Harry suggested. Ginny nodded her agreement. The boy was glad she had agreed, since he didn't fancy another visit to that terrible cafe which couples frequented and which name he couldn't remember for the life of him. He hadn't been a great fan of it from the moment he entered, but after things had gone pear-shaped with Cho there last year, the boy had been left with an even worse aftertaste.

In contrast, _The Three Broomsticks_ was warm and welcoming as always. Glad to be finally out of the rain, the two students headed towards the counter to fetch a couple of butterbeers to completely drive away the chill. However, they soon noticed familiar faces on one of the tables.

Hermione was beaming at them, while the person next to her was her polar opposite. Ron seemed more offended than usual and shot murderous glances at his former friend. For a moment Harry wasn't sure what had brought about this increased level of hostility. Then he realised he was still holding hands with Ginny. Guilt stricken, he tried to slip his hand out, but in vain. The girl had it in a vice-like grip.

"Just ignore him." she said with a voice that could melt iron as she pulled him to the counter.

Luckily for the two of them, Madam Rosmerta was very observant.

"There is another room on the second floor, lovebirds." she winked at them after taking off the caps of their butterbeers and passing them to Harry across the counter.

"No angry brothers to be found there. In fact, I'm pretty sure you'll have it all to yourselves. Staircase is over there."

Harry nodded nervously and hurried to pick up the bottles and turn around before he started blushing. Ginny, on the other hand, seemed quite amused by this exchange. She flashed the other witch a wide smile before following the boy, hooking her arm through his.

The second floor was a bit smaller than the first, but it made up for it with a giant fireplace, where half a log was burning and heating up the the entire room as if it were next to a pyre. The two selected a table in a cozy alcove of sorts, formed by the wall of the room opposite the windows and the fireplace, which protruded from the wall quite a bit. After the two hung their soaked uniforms on the coat hanger and moved it between their table and the rest of the room, the small nook was separated from the room entirely. The hanger also stopped most of the light coming through the window from reaching them, shrouding the alcove in a warm, cosy semidarkness.

For a moment, all Harry could do was sit there and look at her, not quite sure that what was happening was more than a dream. There she sat, beautiful as ever even when drenched to the bone. The boy simply coudn't get his gaze off her smooth skin, her radiant smile... ultimately it was the eyes that caught him prisoner though. Those deep brown eyes, sparkling like the embers in the fireplace behind her back...

Ginny didn't seem to mind this moment of silence or him studying her. On the contrary, this only seemed to bring her more joy. Nevertheless, Harry couldn't help but feel a bit nervous when she started looking at him in return. He was pretty certain he wasn't as pretty sight of a sight as her, his rebelious hair undefeated even by the torrent. Almost unconciously, he raised a hand and unsuccesfully attempted to bring it down, give it some shape. He was pretty sure that this left his hair worse than it had been before. The almost unaudible chuckle Ginny elicited confirmed that.

Just as the boy was starting to worry, however, she extended her hand, palm facing upward near the middle of the table. Her eyes told him that he didn't look silly to her. In fact, they seemed to imply that she was just as entranced by him as he was by her. For a brief moment Harry wondered how that could be true, since he was pretty sure he resembled a wet hen at the moment. However, the eyes were insistent. allowing him no time to wonder for long. Falling under their charm, the boy extended his own hand and held hers.

Time seemed to freeze and nobody said anything. The two just held hands in the dusk of the alcove, submitting to the charm while the pops and hisses of the log cracking in the fireplace fell on deaf ears. Everything the two needed where eyes to see the other and a hand to hold theirs.

An especially loud pop, however, startled them, breaking the strange and unknown spell that had taken control of them. Harry suddenly became aware of the rest of the world again.

"Cheers." Ginny said as she raised her bottle of the table with her free hand. Harry bumped his own butterbeer into hers and the two took a brief pause to pour some of the invigorating liquid in their bellies. While the drink's warmth spread out in his body, driving away the rainwater's chill, the boy scrambled in his mind for any conversation subject. The silent moment was over and he had to figure out what to say. In the end, while he lowered the bottle again, he decided to play it safe.

"Looking forward to the first game?"

"You can bet your invisibility cloak on that." she returned. Her smile showed she wasn't displeased with the subject. Encouraged, Harry decided to stay on that topic until he got a better idea.

"Nervous?"

She bit her lower lip. Something about that made the heart in the boy's chest increase its beat frequency for a fraction of a second.

"A bit." the girl admitted, her uncertainty showing through.

"How did you feel before your first game on the team?"

"OK in the beginning. I thought whatever, it's just a game. But when I was in the changing room and I could hear the crowd roaring above, I felt like barfing." Harry reminisced about the fateful moment four years ago.

Ginny snorted.

"Thanks, Harry, keep up the encouragement!" she remarked ironically. The boy winced. He could see her nervousness more clearly now. Worried that she was getting worried, he hurried to calm her down.

"It's only for a moment though. Once you get up there, the wind in your broom, you'll forget all about it. It'll be just like the training or a normal game, maybe even better. In the end, it's all worth it even if only for that feeling when Madam Hooch hands us the cup and everybody just rushes out on the pitch and..."

"Or that feeling when you end up in the hospital wing, boneless. Or you fall sixty feet down because of dementors. Or get slammed in the face by a Bludger." Ginny retorted, listing his quidditch injuries while the small embers in her eyes glinted mischievously.

"Chicken." he teased her, mirroring her grin.

"What? Harry, all I'm saying is that you love quidditch but it sure doesn't love you back." the girl teased back.

The boy was trying to come up with a clever response to that too when the door swung open open. The bang it produced echoed in the room, followed by heavy footsteps. Judging by the sound, Harry deduced there were at least two other persons here with them.

The coat hanger, the barrier between them and the rest of the world, now turned into an obstacle. The two students stood up quietly and knelt next to it, peeking out carefully between the sleeves to see the intruders.

Harry's estimate was correct; two had just entered the room and settled on a table in the farthest corner of the room from him and Ginny. The first one was a man somewhere in his fifties, though the boy thought that maybe he just looked so old because of his overall appearance of a homeless person. His face lacked wrinkles, but soot stains adorned his cheeks and forehead. Cunning eyes scouted the room from atop a nose that had been broken multiple times. Beneath it, a bushy, yet uncared for mustache flowed into an unkempt beard with bread crumbs in it. His hair was scraggly and somewhat reminded Harry of his own, though he would never leave it greasy and unwashed like this man. Completing his scruffy look was a brown robe that had more patches than original fabric in it. Overall, the boy was left with the impression that this was someone who frequented Knockturn Alley.

His companion was in total contrast to him. Harry couldn't determine the other person's gender, as they were entirely shrouded by an impeccable black robe with a hood that shrouded the person's face in darkness. The robe itself, while clean, was the plainest piece of cloth Harry had ever seen. It had no decorations or pockets visible.

While the mysterious figure and its companion sat on their chairs, the boy turned towards Ginny, his forefinger in front of his lips. He was certain that whoever these people were, they would be very displeased if they found out they were being eavesdropped on. They didn't look like the forgiving type. Ginny nodded to show she understood, then both turned to look at the table with the scruffy man and the other again, glimpsing at them through small gaps and hoping to avoid detection.

The black figure was the first to move. It reached inside its hood and drew a wand. As it did so, Harry noticed that it also wore black gloves. Whoever was beneath that robe apparently wanted to minimise the chance of being recognised.

The stranger held their wand as if they were going to cast a spell, but uttered no incantation. Instead, they just started writing with it in the air, the wand leaving a sparkly trail behind. Shivers went down Harry's spine. The last person he had seen who used that spell was Tom Riddle's ghost.

ARE YOU CERTAIN WE ARE ALONE HERE?- the letters spelled out after the cloaked figure had finished writing.

"Absolutely. There were still free tables on the first floor. Nobody ever comes up here if there are free spots below. Look, Rosmerta even hung her old coats to dry over there by the hearth!" the other replied, pointing the coat hanger .

Harry was really glad that their robes were hung with the Hogwarts insignia facing him and Ginny, otherwise their hideout would have soon been discovered. He didn't want to think about the consequences of that.

TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE. HAVE YOU BROUGHT THEM?- a new set of fiery letters floated above the table.

The scruffy man scoffed derisively.

"Who do you think I am? Brutus Ashpot always delivers. Anyone on Knockturn alley from Borgin and Burkes to Noggin and Bonce can tell you that. When you need something, anything really, delivered, I'm your man." he said before smirking unpleasantly, revealing a missing tooth.

"Even when I have to go all the way to Venice for weirdos like you."

The shrouded figure ignored Brutus' insult. Instead, it wrote in the air again.

DID YOU ACQUIRE ALL THREE KINDS?

"Took me some time, but sure, I did. It was easy with the sparrow, of course. Little chattering fellows are common as dirt. Phoenix feathers, now those were more difficult to find, wand makers hunt for them like mad. I had to use some connection of mine, get you some wing feathers. Wand makers only care for tail feathers, wing feathers are too short for them. This bloody thunderbird plumage is why this all took so long. You don't see much of those this side of the Atlantic, and finding feathers that aren't the size of this room is also hard. Still, after I let out word what I was looking for, I got them too eventually, but they cost me an arm and a leg. I expect you to make it worth my while... or else." Brutus said menacingly, his thumb grinding against his index and middle finger in the universal gesture for money.

MONEY IS NOT AN ISSUE. HAND OVER THE PACKAGE.

"Pay up first! That's how I do deals." the scruffy man insisted.

The shrouded figure nodded almost unnoticeably. Its free hand reached under its robe and out came a coin purse, which the stranger then left on the table to rest, still keeping hold of it. Brutus nodded as well and brought out a considerably larger purse from under his patched robe. A red phoenix feather stuck out from its opening. Almost simultaneously, the two persons dropped their purse and took hold of the other one.

"Pleasure doing business with you." Brutus remarked while counting the money, the soft ring of a galleon lightly hitting another carrying in the room.

The figure didn't react in any way. Instead, it just got up and left along with its bag. A minute later, the supplier followed him.

"Trouble, on the other hand, does love you back." Ginny remarked a few moments afterwards, her tone a mixture of amusement, irony and alarm.

"We can't be sure that they were criminals." Harry objected,uncertain in his answer. The girl was correct, but at this point he was exasperated of trouble trailing him like a loyal bloudhound, so his mind tried to come up with a normal explanation for once.

"Really?" the girl was skeptical.

"Looking for a place nobody could see them, the supplier is a Knockturn Alley merchant, the buyer wears perfectly black robes and doesn't even speak... this sounds like a basis for something shady."

"Maybe the cloaked one is just an ornithologist or collector or something and it's easier for them to get the feathers on the black market." the boy tried to convince himself as much as her.

Ginny considered this option for a second. That already made her more convinced than he was.

"Maybe." she echoed him.

"But that is the just best case scenario. It can only go worse from there."

Harry nodded. He didn't want to agree with her, but he did.

* * *

The clouds had long since dispersed when Harry and Ginny left _The Three Broomsticks_ and headed back to Hogwarts. However, there still were a lot of puddles on the road, turning it into an obstacle course of sorts. Avoiding the obstacles turned into a sort of a game, Ginny's smiles and chuckles making the boy push the deal they had spied on to the back of his head, their conversation and the silent moments before that coming to the forefront again.

Halfway back to the school, the two of them encountered a puddle that more resembled a lake, spanning the entire road from side to side. Passing on one of its shores wasn't an option, as all the students who had passed before them had muddied them up.

They stopped for a moment and wondered how to wade through when Harry had an idea which brought a grin to his face.

"Allow me, fair lady." he said as he extended his arm and half-bowed to Ginny, mischief in his eye.

"Certainly, my dear sir." the girl played along as she in turn extended hers. However, the boy instead slung his behind her back, holding her beneath her armpits. At first Ginny was taken aback, but when he bent down and pushed her knees from behind with his other arm, she realised where this was going.

"No, wait!" she exclaimed through a burst of laughter, but it was too late. Her feet were already off the ground. Picking her up the way a groom picks up a bride, Harry waded through the giant puddle, the water reaching as high as his knees. They both were chuckling like mad in the end, even though Harry's robes were totally drenched and his shoes started making funny noises as he walked. Still, his strategy had been effective- Ginny was perfectly dry.

Luckily, there were no more giant puddles along the way, so the two reached the school grounds without Harry having to get even wetter. However, another surprise was waiting for them once they got to the field.

"Look!" Ginny pointed at something. When he turned around to look, Harry saw it was Hagrid's hut. The last weeks it had always been dark. Now light was shining through the windows again and smoke was rising from the crooked chimney, carrying the smell of firewood. Hagrid was back.

Harry grabbed Ginny's hand and dashed towards the small house on the edge of the Forbidden Forest, his waterlogged shoes croaking like a frog choir. The boy felt like the castle was complete again. Hogwarts just wasn't the same without Hagrid for him and he was more than eager to finally reunite with the gamekeeper.

A few seconds later the two of them were panting by the door of the hut and knocking like there was no tomorrow. An entire class of students chased by werewolves wouldn't have knocked louder. From the inside, Fang's barks sounded, along with a familiar voice:

"Fang, calm down, boy, don't yeh try to bring the door down!"

"Hi, Hagrid." Harry and Ginny greeted in unison as soon as the gamekeeper opened the door. When he saw who was standing in front of the door, Hagrid smiled widely and exclaimed:

"Harry! Good to see yeh! Come inside, don' stay out in the cold! Yeh too, Ginny."

The gamekeeper's hut was as cozy as ever. Even though Hagrid wasn't really the ordered type, the disorganised interior of the house, along with Fang's enthusiastic welcome barks and the burning hearth never failed to convey a feeling of safety and comfort to Harry. In a way, it was as integral a part of Hogwarts to the boy as the Gryffindor common room.

"How have yer lessons been so far?" the half-giant inquired after he left the teapot to boil above the fire.

"A bit rough. Everybody's droning about the O.W.L.s right now." Harry replied.

"Except Sirius." Ginny noted. Hagrid's eyebrows shot up as he heard this.

"Sirius Black? What's he doin' here?"

"Teaching. His name got cleared last summer, so Dumbledore hired him." the girl explained.

"I heard all about tha'. Jus' didn't know Dumbledore also made 'im a teacher."

"Where did you spend the summer, Hagrid?" Harry asked him, wondering how the gamekeeper hadn't heard about Sirius's appointment yet.

Hagrid gave the boy an odd, shifty look.

"Runnin' some errands for the headmaster. Travellin' a bit." he answered vaguely.

This must be related to the Order, Harry thought as he recalled first his conversation with Dumbledore and then the one with Sirius. He was eager to find out more about the headmaster's secret organisation, but knew Hagrid wasn't the one to ask. The gamekeeper had always been fiercely loyal to Dumbledore and the boy was certain he wouldn't let slip anything.

"Hermione an' Ron also came over jus' now." Hagrid swiftly changed the subject. Harry shuffled uncomfortably in his seat. The conversation had taken an unfortunate turn for him.

"I jus' wanted to tell yeh not to worry 'bout Ron, Harry. I mean, it's not for 'im to decide, right Ginny?"

"Right." the girl returned as she looked over to Harry, smiling reassuringly.

It was a bit odd having tea with Hagrid without Ron and Hermione, but it still was pleasant enough. The students and the half-giant, avoiding topics such as Hagrid's summer and the situation with Harry, Ron and Ginny, talked about the new teachers as well as the gamekeeper's plans for this year's curriculum in Care for Magical Creatures. Both Harry and Ginny were relieved to hear it didn't encompass any skrewts, though the prospect of facing tunneling drakes- blind snakes which lived underground and whose fiery breath could melt rock- didn't sound much more appealing.

Time flew and it was already getting dark outside when Hagrid finally took a look at his pocket watch and realised Harry and Ginny would have to go. Promising to visit soon again, the two students left the pleasant warmth of the hut and rushed out into the autumn eve. Neither of them had thick clothes under their robes, as it was still September. Therefore, both of them felt a bit cold and were in a hurry to return to the castle.

However, just as the two entered the courtyard in front of the castle entrance, Ginny held Harry by his shoulder and stopped him.

"You forgot something." she told him.

He thought she meant he'd left something back at Hagrid's, so he started checking his pockets. However, when she stood in front of him and caressed his cheek with her hand, he realised she had a different thing in mind.

Smiling, he closed his eyes and lowered his head, his lips meeting hers. In the silence of the autumn eve, the sound of his heartbeat sounded loud like drums in his head. The moment seemingly stretched on for hours, and yet only a few moments had passed when their lips parted and the two opened their eyes to look at each other.

"I hope I don't have to remind you next time." she teased him, grinning playfully.

"You won't." he promised as he held her by the waist and closed his eyes again.

* * *

 **A.N.:** So these two finally got together. Took 'em forever, right? Good thing Hermione was watching out for them. Joke aside, did you enjoy how I wrote the start of the Harry/Ginny relationship? Feedback would be great! **  
**

I know I told you chapters would get longer as I went along, but this one somehow turned out with an okayish size. I guess it's because it focuses on one situation only, while further chapters encompass two or more, either because they're interconnected or because of multiple storylines progressing in the same chapter.

I've stuck to my quota of 1 chapter/month, but I might not be able to update in August. I hope I will be, but even if I don't, you can probably expect an update early September, so not a big delay.

Last but not least, happy national holiday to my readers from the USA! Have a great time celebrating!


	12. A gathering storm

**Chapter 12: A gathering storm**

The middle of October brought along changes. The torrential rains, artefacts of a turbulent September, were now abating. Morning frosts and frigid gusts took their place, reminding all students from both Hogwarts and Beauxbatons that winter was inching closer by the day.

True, the weather was a concern for Harry as well. After all, the first quidditch match for the year was scheduled for the coming Saturday and the boy didn't want Ginny and Ron to have to battle hurricane winds during their first game. Nevertheless, he had greater worries.

Ron still was either politely ignoring him or glaring daggers. It had come to the point when Harry getting used to it. Additionally, the Damocles' sword of O.W.L.s remained ever-present, hanging above the fifth years' heads, and their teachers did their best to constantly remind them of it.

Harry had never felt the presence of that sword more ostensibly than on Monday the 16th. Devoid of subjects with a lower workload, the day consisted of Herbology, Transfiguration, double Potions and double Astronomy. In other words, some of the most demanding subjects complete with an excess of Snape and Derriere.

It was therefore no wonder that when the boy finally returned to the Gryffindor common room, he was as exhausted as after a quidditch training session that ran twice past its usual length. Scanning the room for his friends, he noticed Ginny standing in front of the notice board and headed her way.

"Hello there." Harry greeted as he approached. Ginny looked over her shoulder and flashed him a smile. When he got close enough, she leaned in and pecked him on the cheek.

"Are we going to this one?" Ginny asked, pointing at a piece of parchment stuck on the board. Unsure what she meant, Harry shifted his attention to it.

 _The next Experimental magic class will take place tomorrow evening, same place as before. Everyone's welcome, you needn't know anything about what we did the first time._

\- _P. Ortington_

The boy checked his schedule. Luckily enough, there was no Astronomy on the next day, meaning that Tuesday would end in a much better way for him than Monday did.

* * *

Ginny was waiting for him at their predetermined meeting spot, between the beginning of the Great Staircase and the exit for the school grounds. Harry joined her in waiting. He wasn't eager for the two of them to have to scythe their way through the torrent of students returning from the Great Hall to their common rooms, so he decided waiting a bit longer was more prudent.

After about fifteen minutes, the staircase was finally empty. The boy motioned towards it with his head. Ginny hooked her arm through his and the two began their climb towards the tower.

At first both of them thought that the hall would this time remain almost empty, seeing as nobody seemed to be heading in the same direction as them. However, as they got closer, students started popping out from side corridors and classrooms. Harry overheard many of them summarizing the previous lecture to a friend or two who hadn't been there.

"Bloody hell, how is Ortington going to fit us all in?" Ginny wondered out loud, voicing the boy's own concern.

Just as he opened his mouth to answer his ears registered two familiar voices quite similar to each other. His brain hardly had time to recognise them and raise the alarm before the Weasley twins exited a side corridor and continued their saunter, heading for Ginny and Harry.

Startled, the boy almost jumped. Here he was, arm locked with Ginny's while her older brothers were straight ahead. Two more Ron situations were coming and he could do nothing to avoid them. Simultaneously afraid and relieved that he wouldn't have to hide from anyone anymore, the boy sighed and braced for the coming conflict.

"I'm telling you, it can't be just a canary cream in his pudding, it has to be something more elegant." George insisted, deep in conversation with his brother.

"Yes, but… Oh, hello, how's it going, Harry, sis?" Fred said upon noticing the other two.

Confusion rose in Harry's mind as the twins turned around after they passed by, falling into stride with him and Ginny. He tried to talk, even though his throat still felt as tight as if he'd chosen a boa constrictor for a scarf. Unsurprisingly, he instead produced a series of coughs.

"Are you alright, mate? You sound like you tried to swallow an egg whole." George noted, looking at the coughing boy with slight concern.

This response only served to befuddle Harry further. His eyes shot wide with surprise only to subsequently narrow with suspicion. Upon witnessing his reaction, Ginny let out a tiny chortle that only the boy could hear. He shifted his attention to her and quizzically raised an eyebrow. Smiling sheepishly, she said:

"Don't worry about it, Harry. I told them."

Harry tried to look sternly at the girl, a bit cross at her because she had waited untill now to tell him this. However, her sheepish grin made short work of that and he couldn't help but smile too.

"So, you aren't mad at me?" the boy asked the twins, pleasantly surprised.

"Why would we be?" George replied, shrugging his shoulders.

"You're a fine bloke. Ginny's had a thing for you since forever, so why not? Also, now that you're smooching, she'll stop swooning whenever you enter the room."

Ginny was more successful with the stern gaze, hers somewhat reminiscent of the one Mrs. Weasley utilised to steer the twins.

"I haven't done that in years." she objected, feigning outrage.

"Of course you haven't." George teased her before resuming his previous conversation with Fred.

"… but it can't be just elegant. It has to be unforgettable. It is a lesson we must teach him, or he'll end up Percy Ignatius Weasley the Second."

"Who are you talking about?" Harry inquired.

"Well Ron, of course."

"Don't think that we didn't notice him sulking. We thought he was just having a bad time because of the O.W.L.s waiting for him in June. Once Ginny told us what it was really about, we immediately recognised the symptoms."

"Percy was exactly the same back when he was still around here." Fred chimed in.

"From the moment he found out I was seeing Amy Hucklestub, he stuck to me like Spell-o-Tape. "No, Fred, you're way too young! Mother will hear about this!". She didn't really mind, but he kept droning and sending letters. It didn't stop until he woke up with his bed floating in the middle of the Great Lake."

"Pulling a trick worked wonders last time." George agreed.

"So we're doing it again. We don't need two Percies in the family."

Harry's expression turned sour. Regardless of what Ron believed at the moment, Harry still thought of him as a friend. The boy was usually more than willing to participate in the twins' latest shenanigan, but not when a friend was the butt of the joke.

"Can you please not do that?" he asked, earning himself bewildered glances from the two older students. Noticing that, he elaborated.

"I appreciate you trying to help, guys, but this is between me, Ron and Ginny. I'm not sure Hermione is doing the right thing by nagging him about it. We have to figure it out on our own. If you pull a prank on him, you'll just turn him against you too."

The Weasley brothers were totally nonplussed. Looking for support, they turned towards their sister.

"I have to side with Harry on this one. Ron is ours to deal with." she told them. Upon hearing her words, Fred let out a small sigh.

"So much for the portable swamp in front of his bed." he remarked wistfully.

The four of them were deep in conversation about Weasley Wizard Wheezes' latest invention- Toffee Snitches that used their wrapper to whiz around- when they finally reached the Experimental Magic classroom. Harry noticed that Ortington had thrown a lot more pouffes around the amphiteatrical hall, each set of two complete with a small table just like last time. Just as the boy had expected, almost all of them were occupied.

Luckily enough, Harry and Ginny's place from the previous time was still vacant. As they sat down, they waved goodbye to Fred and George, who were resuming the search for seats. The boy continued tracking them through the crowd. The two eventually found a free spot on the second row opposite them, above a pair of Beauxbatons whose blue hats were lying on the table in front of them. One of them waved at Harry. Upon realising it was Cheryl, the boy waved back. Right when he lowered his arm, Ortington rushed into the room.

"Late, late, late, late." he mumbled as he stopped to close the doors behind him.

"I'm late, yes, sorry I kept you waiting. I just hope it wasn't for too long. Anyway, welcome to our second lecture- or first, to the newcomers. Today, just like last time, we say good-bye to memorising all the incantations, wrist movements and annoying stuff of that ilk to return to simpler times, when magic was all about will and imagination."

"What do you mean by that, professor?" a familiar voice sounded in the hall.

"Well, I'm glad you asked me, Ms. Derriere! The wizarding world today has many things we take for granted. You there!"

The professor pointed his wand at Cheryl's partner, causing the startled girl to nearly jump out of her seat.

"Tell me, how would you defeat another witch in a duel, young lady?"

After taking a moment to calm down from the shock that was the professor's sudden spin, the girl answered.

" _Petrificus Totalus._ Professor Black also said that _Stupefy_ is good in these cases. Me personally, I'd say _Impedimenta…_ "

"That's more than enough, thank you, Miss." the professor interrupted her, then turned again to address the entire hall.

"As you all heard, this young lady listed three different spells all suitable for a wizard duel. As you can imagine, it's true that most problems can be solved with a variety of different standard spells. I assure you, in most cases the options are way more than three. But why? Does any of you know why there isn't exactly one spell for each situation? After all, anything more is just waste of memory."

"I want to know that too, preferably before Flitwick's test on the fifty different spells that can be used to spin things." Ginny whispered to Harry.

A pale girl with platinum hair raised a hand in the third row. She seemed familiar to the boy, but he couldn't quite recall her name, not until Ortington addressed her.

"Good to see you're back, Ms. Lovegood. Yes?"

"Maybe wizards didn't know there was already a spell to deal with their problem when they came up with another spell." Luna said.

The bespectacled man beamed at her.

"Exactly! The spells you know aren't some ancient set that was just handed to wizards. Each and every one of them began its life as a custom spell that a wizard or a witch thought of. The names of some of them remain in history for their accomplishments. Others, history has forgotten, and today all that remains of them is their spell, once unique, now widespread, existence unimaginable without it. And maybe, just maybe, one day the same will be true of a spell one of you came up with."

Murmur spread through the crowd like a plague. The allure of fame was strong. The professor left his class to discuss for a minute, then clapped his hands to bring its attention back to him.

"Anyway, enough history for today! Let's start with the real lecture now.

Those who were here last time have already dabbled in custom magic a bit. Most of you couldn't quite finish your spells, and that is understandable. There's a very good reason for that."

Ortington paused for a bit to take something out of his robes' inside pocket. He raised it above his head for all to see. It was a wooden stick, about twice as thick as a thumb. Harry couldn't help but wonder what that had to do with the lesson.

"This stick is a custom spell. It's hard to make it do exactly what you want to, or anything, actually. It's unyielding." he explained as he unsuccessfully tried to bend the stick with his hands.

"You try to point it somewhere, make it do something, but it resists. It takes experience and sheer magical prowess to create and use a more complicated custom spell."

"Now, let's see what standard spells are like." the professor said as he slammed the stick against his knee. After he raised it, Harry could see that the two halves remained connected by a single thread of wood.

"As I told you, standard spells are nothing more than custom spells that became popular. That translates to a lot of wizards and witches trying to bend it. As you can imagine, the stick will eventually break. You can do anything with a broken stick." he said as he knocked the two halves against each other lightly.

"Point it in any direction, the stick obeys. You don't expect any resistance, and there is none. The custom spell has been used so many times that its role has been cemented. It has become what it was meant to be and does what it was meant to do. Now, what if we mix and match?"

Ortington severed the last thread that connected the sticks. However, he then took out a small rubber hose from his pocket and stuck the two sticks in the two ends.

"What if we build a custom spell on the base of a standard spell-the hose, in this case? As you can see, the hose bends, so the sticks can move too. You have based your new spell on a standard one, so it's more likely to succeed, more likely to do what you think it will. The standard spell makes the new one more stable. However, there are some limitations, of course. The base you use limits the uses. You can't create a repairing charm using _Reducto_ as a base, just like the hose can bend, but not twist."

"So, this is what we're doing today!" he announced as he raised the sticks-and-hose construction above his head.

"Pick a spell you know and give it a new twist. Like last time, I'll pass through all of you and see what I can do to help. Good luck!"

* * *

" _Expeliarmus?"_

"How can you make disarming different? You just… disarm them. That's all." Ginny replied

" _Coloshoo?"_ Harry suggested another possible base.

"Sirius' spell? The Shoe-sticker? We don't even know how to cast the original spell."

" _Stupefy._ That's the last one I have."

"Still, you just… stun people. Not sure how you can play with that." Ginny added.

"I give up." Harry said as he raised his hands from the table as a sign of defeat.

"Your turn for the ideas."

The girl rested her elbow upon the table and her chin upon her fist.

"I don't know. Really, I think we ruled out just about everything." she said. The duo's attention was momentarily diverted to cheers coming from the second row on the opposite side of the room. George high-fived Fred, the lower halves of their bodies shrouded in some kind of dark mist along with the table. Harry felt a bit desperate. He and Ginny had yet to come up with an idea and the twins were already done.

However, this distraction seemed to lead for an epiphany for the girl. She leaned back in her pouffe, smiled and snapped her fingers.

"Got it. _Aqua Eructo_." she exclaimed.

Harry remembered the spell too, now that Ginny had mentioned it. The water jet charm that the twins had used against him during the numerous Tri-legged Tournaments.

"What if the stream wasn't water?" the girl whispered with a conspiratory tone as she leaned forward.

The boy understood what she meant. While _Aqua Eructo_ had secured victory for the twins in some of the tournaments, usually they won through other means. Harry had always thought that this was one of their more innocuous spells. True, a strong jet to the back could knock someone over, but in the end, it was just water. Entering the mindset of a tri-legged competitor again, the boy started thinking about how he would improve the spell. Changing the liquid was the easiest way. What if instead of water the spell produced a burst of something sticky and slippery, something that would prevent the opponent from getting up for a while longer. Something like…

"Jelly?"

"Deal." Ginny replied as she sealed it with a wink.

* * *

 _Eructo_ was the part that caused the liquid to shoot out, so they kept that. _Aqua_ was water and they removed it because they didn't need it. It seemed simple enough. It wasn't.

" _Limwobbly Eructo!"_ Ginny repeated, thrusting her wand at the wall. Just like the last time, the wall wasn't bombarded with anything.

"I really don't get it. It works with water, why won't it work with lime jelly?" Harry wondered out loud.

"Don't know. Maybe we should change the flavour?" the girl suggested. However, Harry could tell she was far from convinced that it would solve their problems.

"I don't think that will help. Hello again, Mr. Potter, Ms. Weasley. Glad to see you have returned." professor Ortington greeted as he moved on to them from the spot below.

"Any idea what is happening, professor?" Harry asked.

"I think I have one." the teacher replied.

"Some rules are universal. Gamp's Law is one of them, along with its exemptions. Therefore, you can't conjure food out of thin air the same way you can water. The universe won't allow it, not more than it will allow you to break the second law of thermodynamics and create an ideal engine."

The explanation made sense to Harry, so he returned a nod. However, Ginny seemed to be utterly puzzled. For a moment, the boy couldn't understand why. However, after he thought it over, he quickly realised what befuddled her.

Ortington reached the conclusion at the same time as him.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Miss Weasley. Bad example. My mother was a mechanical engineer, a muggle. I keep forgetting most wizards and witches don't know that much about science, I pretty much grew up with it. Anyway, back to your problem. Do you have an idea about how to solve it?"

The two students contemplated on the question for a moment.

"What if the jelly was made out of something else, something bad? If the jelly isn't tasty, if it's terrible, would anybody consider it food anymore?" Harry suggested

"Like parsley. Nobody likes parsley jelly." Ginny added, her expression sour.

Ortington chortled.

"Parsley jelly!" he exclaimed.

"You two have the minds of experimenters. This is a clever workaround, it might just work. Give it a try!"

Ginny raised her wand and aimed it at the wall for the dozenth time. She sent a wave from her shoulder down to her wrist, a movement she and Harry had come up with because it resembled the wobbling of jelly. The wave ended with a shake of the wrist. Simultaneously, Ginny spoke the incantation.

" _Parswobbly Eructo!"_

A thick stream of dark green slime shot out of the tip of the girl's wand, splattering against the wall and coalescing into a big blob that slid down the wall faster and faster as the stream added more jelly.

Ortington approached the gloop after Ginny had stopped casting. Using his wand, he took a small taste of it. Judging by his facial expression afterwards, Harry didn't even want to approach the thing.

"The universe and I both agree with you. This isn't food." their professor remarked, his face stuck between amusement and disgust as he cast the vanishing spell on the slime hill that had formed on the floor. After his job was done, he took a look at his pocket watch. Whatever he saw there surprised him. He hurried back past his two students, and in a few moments, he was back down on the podium.

"That will be it for today, it's getting late. If I keep you here any longer, your heads of houses will hound me until the rest of my time here. Still, even though our time together wasn't as long as I would've liked, you all did great. Almost all of you achieved some form of success, and those who didn't got really close! That's great! Keep practicing, because next time there will be a test."

This statement was met with a single big groan. Harry couldn't distinguish the separate sources; it was all just one omnidirectional sigh full of annoyance.

"Not a usual test." Ortington remarked, grinning.

"No, I meant more like a competition."

The annoyance vanished. Interest was sparked again.

"All of you here have at least one custom spell in their roster or are close to creating one. This enables me to speed up my schedule a bit. This Sunday we will meet at the quidditch pitch, so that the winner of the Arcane Arcade could be determined. In a series of duels in which only custom spells will be used, contestants will be eliminated until only one remains. There will be a prize, of course, though I have no idea what it'd be yet. Feel free to practice and come up with new spells all you want. The more, the merrier."

The hall was drowned with chatter. However, Ortington didn't let it go on for long this time.

"Off you go! It's really late, back to the dorms. And steer clear of Mrs. Norris, I don't want to deal with Filch any more than you do!"

* * *

After the fun and excitement of Experimental magic, Wednesday morning Transfiguration wasn't the best follow-up.

Harry's head was still bursting at the seams with ideas about new custom spells he could create. Transfiguration, however, didn't allow him to indulge in daydreaming. As always, McGonagall required every student's undivided attention and expected everyone to give their best while attempting the newest spell she taught them.

"For ten years Gryffindor has always scored the highest average among houses on the Transfiguration O.W.L.. You should be no exception. This O.W.L. requires more intricate work than something like Defence against the Dark Arts or Herbology, so you have to put effort in. I mean no offense to professors Black and Sprout, but they do have an easier task on their hands. Now, let me see your progress on the Heffalumpian transition I taught you last time."

Unsurprisingly, Hermione had no issues whatsoever. A miniature elephant stood on the spot on her desk where a teapot used to stand a few moments ago. The animal shifted its ears with confusion, having found itself in an utterly foreign habitat.

The rest of the class managed to reach various stages of success too, though most of their elephants still sported the shine of porcelain. Harry's also had the teapot's cap stuck to its head, much to its chagrin. The boy found some consolation by looking at Ron's attempt. His elephant was basically a teapot with a tail and 4 legs that trumpeted angrily and kept bumping into the Weasley's belongings.

However, Ron's hybrid was not the most unsuccessful attempt. An exchange student sitting next to the window to the left of Harry just kept swinging the wand at the teapot with no effect. As this went on, he started grunting with disappointment. Noticing his distress, McGonagall came to help.

"May I check your wand, Mr. Gillette?" she asked. The boy nodded tiredly and handed it over.

"Hmm." their professor grunted as the wand shot out cerulean sparks.

"It seems to be well in order. Tell me, have you been eating enough lately?"

The boy nodded once again, somewhat tiredly. As he did so, red light illuminated his face, forcing him to raise an arm to shield his eyes. Scanning his surroundings, Harry found out that the source of the shine was, oddly enough, his bag. He quickly brought it up in his lap and closed it.

McGonagall shifted her attention back to the exchange student.

"Are you certain? You seem very tired."

Harry fumbled inside his bag, looking for the source of the light. His fingers brushed past something angular that felt like glass to the touch. Wondering what the object was, he grabbed it and pulled out.

"It took all the food it needed for itself."

The weird sentence uttered by the French boy was unnoticed by Harry, who held something weirder in his palm. A small crystal cube painted the entire room crimson with its brilliance. At its centre, a black cloud swirled and unfurled, its long greasy tendrils looking both effervescent and sharp.

Harry's heart skipped a beat as he recognised the thing from his dreams. No sooner had the boy wondered what it was than wisps of fog swam a few inches above the cube. McGonagall turned around, her face twisted with annoyance at the light, right on time to see letters form from the fog.

 _OBSCURUS_

Annoyance made way for surprise and fear. The professor turned around sharply, facing the exchange student. Harry sat still and watched as the other boy's outlines blurred and black fog started oozing from his hands, pooling around his legs.

"It has gathered enough strength now." Gillette noted, his voice sounding distant and distorted, as if he were submerged in water.

"Everyone, move behind my desk."

While McGonagall's voice hardly sounded different than before, there was an underlying tone that made Harry's hair stand on end. A barely restrained fear that spoke volumes of the danger they were in. Grabbing his bag and wand, he leapt from the chair and ran for the teacher's desk, other students following suit. Once he reached it, the boy chanced a look over his shoulder. McGonagall was tailing Neville, the last of the class to leap. Behind their backs, Gillette clenched his teeth as the line of smoke crawled up his body.

" _Protego!"_ the professor cried. An opaque and iridescent stream shot out from behind the desk. After a few feet it stopped and spread. A moment after the incantation had been spoken, the dome-like barrier had closed around McGonagall and all the students.

The exchange student's face, until now twisting with pain, suddenly relaxed. As he let go, the boundary between him and the smoke ceased crawling and moved up to his face with the speed of a Seeker chasing a snitch. Orange flared at the centre of the newly formed cloud and it shot towards the students, its sharp tendrils swirling madly. It emitted an odd noise as it flew, a kind of sizzling reminiscent of sand flowing.

The strike was so strong it physically moved the shield around them. However, it still did its job. The monstrous creature rebounded and flew a few feet backwards, carried by the force of its own strike. Gryffindors and Beauxbatons needed no further prompting to help their teacher, whose hand was now quivering. At once, dozens of wands were raised and one word reverberated in the room. The barrier shone with ten times its former brightness, reinforced and stronger. The smoke swung back and slammed against the shield again. This time it didn't budge. The cloud let out a deafening roar of frustration, equal parts animalistic and mechanical. Harry had never heard something like it before.

The creature took a new approach. It hung right outside the barrier as its tendrils grew in size and lashed out against the shield, the sizzling hiss increasing in intensity when the spikes got closer. However, they caused no damage.

Noticing it had failed to do harm, the cloud flared red again and shot towards the door. Windows shattered in his wake. Even a few stones cracked as it passed them by. After reaching its destination, the cloud sharply turned around and headed for the shield again, flying right above the central lane between the desks. Wood could not withstand the presence of the malevolent creature. Boards cracked in two and oaken legs were slammed against the rock. The few desks it actually touched were reduced to sawdust.

The third strike was the strongest one yet. The barrier rippled from the impact, but remained intact. Harry sighed with relief. Maybe the Shield Charm was strong enough to protect them after all.

The boy remained confident as the cloud retreated back to the door and repeated its attack. He remained confident during the third attempt as well. And the fourth. And the fifth.

However, after the creature slammed against the shield for the sixth time, his anxiety returned as he saw some of his classmates lower their wands for a second, shake their arm to restore the blood circulation, then bring them back up. The cloud didn't need to be stronger than the shield, he realised. It only needed to last longer. And judging by the seventh time, it didn't seem to tire as easily as they did.

Cheryl had apparently reached the same conclusion.

"What now?" she asked.

"We wait for somebody to find us." professor McGonagall said.

"After they see what is happening, they will alert professor Dumbledore."

The French girl's face was the epitome of doubt. Just next to her, Neville was wiping sweat off his forehead with his free hand.

"That may take hours. We can't last that long. And what if someone does come? How can we be sure that thing won't do to them what it did to the desks?"

McGonagall hesitated. Harry realised that she knew that what Cheryl was telling her was right. However, she couldn't admit it. Sowing panic would only shorten the time during which they could keep the shield up.

"If you have any better ideas, Ms. Derriere, now is the time to share them with the class." the old witch scolded her.

Cheryl nodded, ignoring the irony in her teacher's voice. Then without any warning she leapt out of the protective bubble, her wand aimed at the swirling cloud that was speeding up for the ninth hit.

The Stunner didn't paralyse the creature. However, the sudden attack did cause it to stop its approach and it hung in the middle of the room, befuddled by its enemy's sudden change of strategy.

"Ms. Derriere, return here at once!" McGonagall screamed, the suppressed fear in her voice showing through.

The French girl didn't listen.

" _Petrificus Totallus_!"

The Body-binding Curse wasn't more effective than _Stupefy_. Still, it seemed to cement the cloud's interest in its attacker. It slowly glided towards her, stretching out its tendrils as if to embrace her. Cheryl, however, wasn't fooled. She leapt to the side as she cast her third spell.

 _Impedimenta_ seemed to work at first. The cloud's movements slowed down and almost ceased. The French girl grinned and turned around, headed for the door. However, right as she turned her back to it, the creature flared red again and started swirling. Harry's eyes widened with fear.

"Run!" he shouted a moment before the smoke regained its usual speed. A moment too short for any reaction.

The sharp tendril struck her in the middle of her back. The force of the blow was such that it sent her flying across the room. A loud thump marked her slamming against the door. There she slumped down, unconcious.

Harry feared what would happen next. The image of the cloud shredding the desks was all too fresh. However, now that Cheryl posed no threat, the creature seemed uninterested in her. It instead renewed its assaults on the Shield Charm.

At some point after the thirty-first strike the boy stopped counting. His fear and anger ebbed away with the adrenaline, both too strong emotions to be kept going for so long. Apathy and acceptance replaced them. Acceptance that eventually, the cloud would break through. Acceptance that he would never make amends with Ron. Acceptance that he wouldn't see Hagrid again, or Ginny.

The thought of Ginny, along with the sight of the Shield Charm in front of him, shifted gears in his head. Harry gasped with amazement as the solution revealed itself to him. But did it though? Doubt clouded his mind as he realised that he'd be wagering all of their lives on a joke spell being the right call. Was the risk worth it?

As the cloud slammed against the shield yet again, he decided it was. If Cheryl's attempt had shown him anything, it was that being reckless was better than hoping for a miracle. He lowered his wand only to raise it again and flick it twice.

" _Pom Pom!_ "

The edges of the barrier rose from the floor. Light reflected off its surface in weird ways as it flipped its curvature. The edges met on the other side of the creature and merged, sealing it within the bubble. The cloud flared orange and swung a tendril at its prison. Harry held his breath. As the tendril connected, the bubble shook, but remained intact. The boy sighed with relief as the creature thrashed around inside the shield, its attacks failing to do any damage. He could hear his classmates doing the same.

McGonagall observed the thing attacking for a while, wanting to make sure it couldn't break out of its confinement. Once she was certain, she spoke again.

"Mr. Weasley, please help Mr. Finnigan carry Ms. Derriere to the hospital wing. Mr. Longbottom, fetch Professor Dumbledore. Mr. Potter, stay here. Everyone else, gather your belongings and go. You have the rest of the day free."

The frightened students only took a few seconds to gather their things before nearly running out of the room, Ron and Seamus stopping briefly to pick up Cheryl by the door. However, Harry noticed that there was one student who didn't leave.

"What is this thing, professor?" Hermione asked, pointing with her wand at the cloud still madly trying to escape from Harry's trap. Her face was a portrait of shock and fear.

"An Obscurus, Ms. Granger. Not a too powerful one, luckily for us." McGonagall noted as she knelt and wiped the sawdust off something. As red light illuminated the room again, Harry remembered how everything had started.

"You have a very well tuned Creature Detector, Mr. Potter." the professor commended him as she picked up the crystal cube.

"It detected the Obscurus before it was even visible. A gift from Professor Black, I assume?"

"Professor Lupin, actually."

"That would have been my other guess." she said as she opened her palm and tapped the device with her wand. The wisps of smoke appeared again, only now they formed more than one word in the air.

 _OBSCURUS_

 _This rare and destructive magical creature possesses power greater than any other. So great that only magic can fuel it. No known methods of counterattacking, avoid at all costs._

"So great that only magic can fuel it? What does that mean?"

"An Obscurus has no need for food, Ms. Granger. Even if it could harvest energy from food, it would require tons of it. To sustain itself, an Obscurus feasts on its host's magic."

Harry felt his blood chill.

"Like a parasite?"

"Yes. Obscuri were common appearances in medieval ages. Gifted children often willingly suppressed their magic hoping to avoid a witch trial, and this is how an Obscurus developed inside them. Now that the wizarding world and the muggle one are separate, they have become a rare occurrence."

"Not so rare, it seems."

Harry, Hermione and McGonagall shifted their attention to the door. Standing under its frame was a bespectacled man with a long white beard.

"Albus!" the deputy headmaster exclaimed.

"An Obscurus, here in Hogwarts! Do you think it's like Manchester?"

"I do not know, Minerva. I do not know." the old wizard replied, carefully studying Harry and Hermione above his half-moon glasses. This confused the boy and he was about to ask what had happened in Manchester when the red light suddenly died out, the smoke letters vanishing along with it.

A deafening silence followed. Harry realised he could no longer hear the hissing the Obscurus made as it moved. He shifted his gaze to his shield ball. The black cloud was no longer swirling inside. Instead, the unconscious exchange student was leaning against the wall.

"You may let him go now, Harry. He is no longer a threat." Dumbledore said.

As Harry lowered Gillette to the ground, McGonagall spoke again.

"You two may go now. Me and Professor Dumbledore must discuss this accident."

"Professor, what if this isn't an accident? What if it was an attack by Voldemort?" Harry asked the headmaster, his voice tense with worry.

Dumbledore stood still, deep in thought for a few seconds. Then he shook his head sagely.

"Voldemort wants control, Harry. It is his one aim and he makes sure he always knows what is happening. An Obscurus is too shifty and unpredictable of a minion even for him."

Harry loosened up.

"That being said." the professor resumed.

"I am not too sure myself that it is an accident."

* * *

"Nothing about Obscuri here either!"

The exasperated Hermione slammed the book she held shut and put it on the giant pile of books they had checked already.

"Wait, did we check _"Dark Arts, Dark Minds: History of the Vile"_ already?" the boy asked as he picked up the book from the checked pile.

"Yes, Harry. There was no mention of Obscuri being used by dark wizards there."

"How about Manchester? Was that in there somewhere?"

"I don't think so. What do you think happened there?"

"Judging by the way McGonagall said it, nothing good."

The two resumed the search for more information on the creature that had attacked them, but in vain. All they could find were descriptions in line with the one that Lupin's Detector had provided and old attack records, none of which in Manchester.

Harry was reading an eyewitness account of the most recent attack they had found yet, one in New York during 1926, when someone shouting his name startled him and he knocked over the checked pile with his elbow. He stood up and saw it was Ginny, who had just come around the corner of the closest bookshelf. He didn't have time to greet before she ran over to him and hugged him with all her might.

"They told me during the break and I was worried sick and I went looking for you and I couldn't find you and..."

Harry stopped her endless sentence with a kiss.

"I'm alright." he assured her once they separated, rubbing her shoulder affectionately.

"You sure?" the worried girl asked, not quite convinced. Harry replied with a small nod, calming the Weasley down.

"Good." she said. A few moments later, she even smiled.

"I'm not sure everything they told me is true though. Like that part where you captured it inside a ball or something."

Now it was Harry's turn to grin.

" _Pom Pom._ " he replied laconically.

Ginny chortled and regarded him with disbelief.

"You're messing with me."

The boy maintained his grin.

"No bloody way. You really did it?"

Harry nodded once again. Ginny's concern finally cleared fully from her face. She opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted.

"Keep silent in the library or keep out!" Madam Pince said as she rounded the corner too.

"Leave immediately!"

Ginny looked guiltily at Hermione, knowing that it was her shout that would get them kicked out. To Harry's surprise, however, the bushy-haired girl didn't seem to mind it.

"There's nothing useful in these books anyway. Let's go. Hopefully Dumbledore will have some answers."

* * *

The buzz in the Great Hall was so loud that Harry couldn't hear his own footsteps as he walked towards his usual seat on the Gryffindor table. It only intensified as he walked past other students, everyone turning to look at him before leaning in towards their friend to retell the story they had told a hundred times.

Even the Slytherins were deep in discussion, which surprised Harry. However, that surprise vanished when the boy saw Malfoy with cardboard glasses and a lightning scar drawn with a crayon, swinging his wand as if it were a tennis racket. Mocking him, after all, was nothing new for Snape's house.

As had become usual, Ginny was waiting for him and took his hand in hers after he sat down. However, to Harry's amazement, that wasn't the only person waiting.

"Cheryl!" he exclaimed as he noticed her across him from the table. The girl had a big bandage wrapped like a turban around her head, a giant forehead bruise showing from underneath.

"Hey, Harry."

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in the hospital wing?"

"I would have, if we were in Beauxbatons. I don't know if you know it, but you have a remarkable nurse here in Hogwarts. She said I'll be good as new by tomorrow, even though my head is killing me right know."

"Oh, he knows." Ginny remarked.

"He visits the hospital wing so often she asked him to keep his toothbrush there."

Harry didn't have the opportunity to defend himself because right after the girl spoke, Dumbledore came out from the side door and stood on the podium in front of the teachers' table. The buzz died out in an instant as all students became all ears.

The headmaster cleared his throat.

"You already know what I'm going to talk about. This morning, at about a quarter to ten, there was an accident in professor McGonagall's class. One of her students is infected by an Obscurus- a dangerous magical creature that destroys anything in its surroundings.

Only one student was harmed before the Obscurus was captured, and I'm sure you are all glad to hear she has recovered enough to sit here with us. The Obscurial boy is still unconscious, but he is under the able care of Madam Pomfrey. Tomorrow, experts from St. Mungo's and elsewhere will assess his condition.

Now, I'm sure you're all tired and hungry. Let's leave this dreadful accident behind our backs and enjoy the delicacies the Hogwarts kitchen has prepared for us today."

The tables squeaked under the weight of the food. Just as Harry reached for a fried chicken leg, another voice sounded through the hall.

"You're so quick to dismiss it."

It didn't take Harry long to find the source. A blonde girl in a Beauxbatons uniform standing next to the Ravenclaw table. She seemed to be no older than thirteen and had a bag slung over her left shoulder.

"I beg your pardon, miss?" Dumbledore said.

"Dismiss the whole thing as an accident to be left behind our backs. You don't know that. You haven't given it enough thought. Or maybe you know it wasn't an accident and you're just keeping it quiet."

The headmaster regarded her carefully.

"And how can you be so sure that it wasn't an accident?"

"Because my master ordered it." the girl replied before bringing something out of her bag. A mask, Harry realised as she put it on. A simple brown mask with two holes for eyes and an indifferent face carved out. The only decoration was the bright red and blue plumage topping it off.

"Le Ombre extends his greetings, Albus Dumbledore."

Fearful gasps came from every student from Beauxbatons as the Hogwarts students wondered what was happening. Madam Maxime shifted uncomfortably in her chair while the stories he had heard on his birthday came back to Harry. So this was a Masked One. A servant of Le Ombre, robbed of her free will by the same mask she wore. Next to him, Ginny had gone pale and squeezed his hand harder than before.

Meanwhile, the French girl had started walking towards the headmaster. Sirius stood up behind the teacher's table, wand half-drawn, but with one shake of his head Dumbledore sat him back down.

"We have done nothing to anger Le Ombre. Why order an attack?"

"Consider it a show of force. My master wants you to deliver some very important items to him, Dumbledore. Should you fail to deliver them as soon as possible, more attacks will follow."

When the masked girl reached the wizard, she reached inside her bag again. Harry tensed up, thinking that she would attack. However, it wasn't a weapon she retrieved, but a scroll of parchment which she dropped in the headmaster's hand.

"My master can be fierce, but he can also be merciful. To prove this, he relinquishes control of his servant." the Masked One said as she drew her wand and tapped her mask. It crumbled and darkened, falling down to the ground like autumn leaves.

When the girl turned around and screamed, the buzz returned louder than ever as students shouted, discussed and tried to escape all at the same time. In the scramble that ensued, Harry lost Ginny in the crowd. However, while looking for her, he stumbled upon another familiar face.

"Sirius! Can you help me find Ginny? I..."

"There's no time to waste, Harry. Come with me. We need to be quick."

* * *

 **A.N:** I hope you enjoyed that! This chapter turned out a bit longer than expected. That's because it's pretty much is 2 in 1. Initially, the Exp. magic lecture was intended to be a separate chapter. However, it turned out short enough and I thought that it would be nice to get the main story going sooner. As always, feedback about length or anything else is greatly appreciated! Next chapter is a shorter one, so you can expect it September already or early October. **  
**


	13. In plain sight

**Chapter 13: In plain sight**

"Wait! What do you mean?" Harry shouted, trying to raise his voice above the sound of the crowd.

His godfather didn't seem to hear. Instead of replying, he nodded towards the door and headed that way, weaving his way through the mass of students. The boy followed him. The quiet of the Entry Hall did make for a much better place for a conversation.

With no little effort the two managed to reach the door. When they finally poured out of the Great Hall along with the rest of the students, Sirius headed for the staircase leading to the Ravenclaw tower. This made Harry raise an eyebrow, but he didn't say anything. He also didn't say anything when his godfather branched off the stream in the first corridor he encountered. However, when he then branched off once again the boy decided it was time to speak up.

"Sirius, where are we going?"

"To your common room." the other wizard replied laconically as he took a third turn.

"We'll never get there from here." Harry objected.

"We will eventually and the masks wouldn't expect us to go through here."

"You think they'll come after us?"

Sirius remained silent for a moment.

"I think they'll come after you."

The concern in his godfather's voice made the boy consider the possibility. Back when Lupin had first told him about Le Ombre, he had been a separate threat, a dark wizard unrelated to Voldemort. However, Padfoot's words had put things into perspective. The master of Masked Ones had terrorised France at the same time Voldemort had done the same with Britain. And now, when Harry's memories had disrupted Riddle's plans and forced him to go into hiding, Le Ombre had suddenly resurfaced in Hogwarts after years of inaction, as if to aid his ally. The idea was deeply unsettling.

"You will be safe once we get to the common room."

"I can't stay there forever."

"You won't have to. Dumbledore and I will come up with something during the meeting of the Order. You just have to stay put for two hours."

The boy perked up. So the Order of the Phoenix was assembling this night and that was why Sirius was in such a hurry to deliver him to the common room; he had a meeting to catch afterwards. But what if he didn't have to? Maybe they could skip the common room and go straight to the meeting. Surely he would be safe there too.

His godfather's expression indicated he knew what Harry was thinking before he even said it.

"I'm sorry. I tried my best to convince Dumbledore, but he didn't budge. I'll resume trying to get you in, but you can't come this time."

Harry squeezed his lips into a thin line. He was growing tired of Dumbledore refusing to let him attend a meeting of the Order. The boy had respected his opinion before, but only because there had been no threat. Now that a dark wizard had appeared in Hogwarts, he couldn't just stand by and watch. He was going to attend the meeting regardless of what the headmaster thought.

Luckily enough, he had the perfect tool for the job.

* * *

The portrait of the Fat Lady had barely swung open when Sirius took his goodbye and hurried back down the closest moving staircase. The boy had no time to waste either if he wanted to succeed. Fast as a snitch, he shot down the corridor leading to the common room. There, however, he faced an obstacle.

"There you are!" Ginny exclaimed.

"Hey." the boy replied as he zoomed past, headed for the stairs to the boys' room.

"Wait, where are you going?" the girl asked, nonplussed.

"You'll see."

The only other person in the room was Seamus, whose snores reverberated through the room and made it seem like they were in a timber mill. Therefore, nobody saw Harry digging through his suitcase in search of the object that would allow him to go to the meeting. It took some time, as his suitcase was a total mess, but eventually his fingers brushed past a cold and slippery surface. The boy smiled and pulled out.

When Harry didn't come down after a few minutes Ginny thought that he had gone to bed. She understood that, feeling exhausted herself. The images of the masked girl kept haunting her, sending chills down her spine. It inevitably reminded her of Professor Lupin's story. A girl subjugated to a dark wizard's will. Receiving commands from an unseen enemy. A pawn in a game she couldn't understand, just like Ginny had once been.

An invisible hand tapped her shoulder lightly.

She startled. The sudden jerk destabilised the chair she was sitting on. It lurched backwards only to be held up by an invisible force and returned to its normal position. Nobody else in the room noticed anything.

The girl took a moment to take two deep breaths. Afterwards, she leaned her head forward so that nobody would see her speak.

"Bloody hell, Harry. Next time you do something like this, I'll ask Fred and George to put a portable swamp in front of your bed." she said loud enough for him to hear, but not for others.

"Understood." the invisible boy whispered in her ear. He sounded amused.

"Where are you going?"

"Order meeting. Could you think of an alibi if McGonagall comes looking?"

"Did you fold the sheets of your bed so that it looks like someone's sleeping in it?"

"No. I'm in a hurry. It might start anytime now.

"Fine, I'll do it for you. If she asks, you are very tired. Good luck."

"Thanks, Ginny. Sweet dreams."

After an invisible peck on the top of her head he was gone. Ginny smiled to herself and headed for his room to cover up for Harry. Maybe she would snag a few minutes of sleep once she got there.

* * *

Harry sometimes wondered whether cats had the ability to see through his cloak like Moody's fake eye. Every time he had been sneaking somewhere invisible and he had encountered Mrs. Norris, the animal always stared right at him and promptly summoned Filch with her loud meowing. Luckily enough, Filch lacked that ability for sure. The boy only hoped that McGonagall would never think of prowling the corridors in her Animagus form.

Right now his head of house was a dot in Dumbledore's office. Joining her were the headmaster himself, Sirius and Lupin. A quick check of the nearby corridors on the Marauders' Map told Harry that Snape was also heading in that direction.

"Mischief managed. _Nox_." the boy whispered once he turned the corner to the headmaster's corridor. He pocketed the piece of parchment and his wand as he approached the stone gargoyle. All he had to do now was sneak in together with Snape when he arrived.

The long flailing edges of the potion master's robes looked eerie in the dark, increasing the likeness to a bat. Harry silently stood behind his back just when he stopped in front of the entrance. He had to be quick.

"Canary cream." Snape said the password with an even tone. Harry's sudden urge to break out in laughter nearly ended his mission right then and there. Apparently Fred and George's advertising campaign was quite successful.

The gargoyle leapt aside, revealing the passage to the headmaster's office. Luckily, Snape was in no hurry to get there, so Harry had enough time to get in without being detected. As the rotating staircase took them both closer to the headmaster's office, the boy braced himself. He was going to have less time now, so he couldn't afford to stall.

"Severus." Dumbledore greeted as the door swung open.

"Dumbledore." Snape replied, lingering at the door for a bit. The slight delay was all the time an invisible spy needed to pass through the doorway. Harry then silently tiptoed his way to a corner of the room where he could see and hear everything but people wouldn't bump into him.

"I do not believe Voldemort has sent envoys to Grayback." the potion master spoke again as he took a seat on the table Dumbledore had placed in the middle of his office. The seat, of course, was the one farthest from Sirius and Lupin, who were sitting on the headmaster's left side.

"None of my sources report so. He seems to be hiding still."

"Thank you, Severus." Dumbledore said.

Sirius glared coldly at Snape.

"This is the first thing you think about? With everything that has happened today? A student nearly died."

"If you could see past your own ego, Black, maybe you would understand the relevance of this information. Le Ombre has acted. Voldemort has not. Lack of coordination is not usual for either of them. Therefore, we can conclude that it is unlikely they are working together."

"That's not a guarantee. Maybe a major diversion is still to come." Sirius objected.

Dumbledore raised his hands in an effort to calm both men down.

"I agree. The possibility remains. However, with the data we have now, it is no longer a certainty. Remus, what is your opinion on the matter?"

"Same as Black's. As always." Snape hissed.

Lupin didn't seem fazed by those words.

"You forget, Severus. I was in France during the First War. I've seen firsthand how Le Ombre works. He never tried to reach out to You-Know-Who, even though they were active at the same time. Not even once. True, a message could have slipped by me and the French Ministry. However, Le Ombre didn't even request aid from radical werewolf groups near Dijon, and they would have gladly helped. No, I believe Le Ombre is a lone wolf."

"His strategy has changed though. He didn't use Obscuri before." McGonagall said.

"True. In fact, I don't think any dark wizard has tried to use them since Grindlewald." Sirius chimed in.

Dumbledore nodded.

"It is inherently difficult for Obscuri to be integrated into any plan. They are born out of an excessive desire to control. Rebelling against that is in their nature. Gellert soon realised that."

"Le Ombre might not be aiming to control it." McGonagall pointed out.

"If his goal is just to wreak havoc so that he convinces us to fulfil his demands, a magical creature that does just that is an apt tool."

"I agree." Lupin said.

"Le Ombre is chaotic, so an Obscurus is a suitable tool for him. An enemy with a plan is predictable and inspires rebellion. One without any just inspires fear. Even when You-Know-Who was at the height of his power, we knew his goals and methods. He was never an unknown entity.

We don't know Le Ombre's goal and we never did. His attacks followed no patterns. They could happen anytime, anywhere, by anyone. Panic and uncertainty were his primary weapons and it seems they still are."

"The objects he requested followed no pattern either, if I recall correctly." McGonagall added.

Lupin shook his head.

"Wrapping paper, tentacula sprouts, okami saliva and other things of that ilk. Those aren't dark artefacts. They aren't even useful objects. The only things he ever put to use were the four he requested every time, as you know."

"Well, at least he's consistent with the weird requests." Sirius said as he read through a piece of parchment. Harry assumed it was the same one the masked girl had handed Dumbledore earlier.

"Thornip seeds. Two litres of camel milk. Treefrog skin. The list goes on and on like this until the usual four. Wooden masks. Sparrow feathers. Phoenix plumage. Thunderbird plumage. Those at least we know why he needs."

The types of feathers rang a bell to Harry. The dodgy Knockturn Alley salesman had sold exactly sparrow, phoenix and thunderbird plumage to the shady figure in _"The Three Broomsticks"_. The last two species were famous for their long feathers coloured red and blue. Just like the ones that the masked girl had adorned.

The boy realised he had no choice. It was crucial that the Order learnt what he knew. Knowing full well that it would cost him any future chances of entering the Order, along with possible expulsion, Harry grabbed his cloak and pulled it off his head, becoming visible again.

He expected Sirius to be the least surprised. However, his godfather was as startled as McGonagall to see him appear. Dumbledore, on the other hand, didn't react at all. He just looked at Harry as if the boy had been sitting at the table with them from the start.

"I always assumed, Potter, that there was a limit to your audacity. It appears I was mistaken." Snape remarked.

McGonagall looked disappointed.

"Sirius, please see that Harry returns to the common room."

"No! You have to hear me out!" the boy shouted.

"I saw Le Ombre buying the feathers."

The people around the table froze for a moment. The headmaster leaned back in his chair and scratched his chin, deep in thought.

"Where did you see him, Harry?"

The boy was about to reply, but Snape spoke first.

"Admit it, Potter, you saw nothing. This is just an excuse, an effort to avoid punishment long overdue."

"I saw him." Harry insisted calmly, utilising all of his self-control not to lash out at Snape.

"It happened a few weeks ago. Ginny and I went to _"The Three Broomsticks"_. It was raining, so Madam Rosmerta told us to go sit next to the big hearth on the second floor. We went there, but after a few minutes two people came in. They couldn't see us because of the coat hanger. The first one was a middle-aged man, scruffy-looking. He was a black market trader."

"Do you remember his name?" Dumbledore asked.

"It had something to do with soot... no, ash. Ashpot! That was his last name. He brought the feathers. The other one was a figure entirely covered in black. It wore a robe with a deep hood, gloves and boots. It didn't even speak."

"How did it communicate, then?"

"It wrote fiery letters in the air with its wand. It paid Ashpot a full bag of galleons for those feathers. Red and blue ones were showing from the top."

Now that he had shared the story, Harry relaxed. Whatever happened now wasn't up to him anymore.

"Thank you, Harry. I appreciate you sharing this with us. Please, have a seat."

The boy pulled up the chair next to Lupin and sat down, amazed that Dumbledore hadn't dismissed him immediately. Snape couldn't believe it either.

"Surely, he cannot stay, headmaster? His information may turn out useful, but let's not forget that Potter came here to spy on us. He has no place here."

"Do not worry, Severus. Harry will return to the common room. Of course, that will have to wait until the others arrive. They might have some questions of their own to ask him."

The potion master's expression visibly soured.

"You pulled quite the trick on us, Harry." Lupin said quietly so that only the boy could hear him.

Harry looked down guiltily.

"I'm sorry, Professor."

"On the other hand, Moony has pulled countless similar tricks." Sirius remarked, speaking quietly as well.

Lupin smiled.

"Guilty as charged. I have to admit, Harry, I've scared not one or two people by jumping out of nowhere. Your father never let that cloak stay on the hanger for longer than a week. It is truly an invaluable magical object."

The last two words reminded Harry of something he had taken a mental note to do after he had faced the Obscurus.

"I wanted to thank you for your present, Professor."

The older wizard raised an eyebrow.

"The Creature Detector. It knew the Obscurus was there before it broke out."

"Ah, yes, the detector. Well, I'm glad it's of use to you, Harry."

The boy was planning to ask his former teacher where he had bought it from. However, before he had the chance, a knock came from the door. After Dumbledore invited them in, five people entered the room.

The first of them was a tall, broad-shouldered and dark-skinned man wearing a lavender robe with a maroon scarf tied around his neck. Harry noticed that it had Ministry of Magic insignia sewn into it.

The second was a relatively short and skinny young woman who had ditched her ministry uniform save for the scarf in favour of a pair of jeans and a gray blazer. Their bland shades were in total contrast with her short electric green hair.

The wooden leg and an eye spinning madly in its orbit left no room for doubt when it came to the identity of the third person. Seeing Mad-Eye Moody again was a weird experience for Harry, mainly because he had never seen him before. The boy had no idea how loyal Barty Crouch Junior's imitation had been to the original.

There were two more familiar faces in the group, ones that Harry wouldn't have believed were in the Order of the Phoenix had he not seen for himself. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were just as surprised to see him there, judging by their looks.

"Come, Harry. Let me do the introductions." Dumbledore said, rising up from his chair. Harry stood up as well and joined the headmaster as he walked over to the newcomers.

"This is Kingsley Shacklebolt. He works in the Ministry of Magic as an Auror."

"Pleased to meet you, Mr. Potter." the tall man with the lavender robes said as he shook hands with Harry.

"Nymphadora Tonks, his partner."

"Just Tonks is fine, Harry."

The boy was about to shake hands with her too but became distracted when her hair changed shades. Now it was brightly orange.

"Oh yes, it does that sometimes." Tonks remarked.

"I'm a Metamorphmagus. My appearance can change."

"Now, Harry, meet Alastor Moody, head Auror." Dumbledore said as they moved down the line.

Moody produced a gruff laugh. His crazy eye spun around to observe the wall behind him.

"The real one this time."

There was no reason for Dumbledore to introduce the last two members of the Order to Harry.

"Hello, dear." Mrs. Weasley greeted, spreading her arms to hug him.

"Good to see you, Harry." Arthur said after his wife had let Harry go.

"You too, Mr. Weasley." the boy replied while he shook the man's hand.

Dumbledore coughed, bringing everyone's attention back to him.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice. I didn't plan for this to be a big meeting. However, in light of today's events, I deemed it better that we all gather so that a plan for action could be prepared. There has been a new development since I last notified you. An exchange student revealed herself as a Masked One during dinner. Le Ombre claimed responsibility for the attack."

Tonks looked befuddled.

"I thought it was the witness from Manchester. After all, his..."

"This has nothing to do with the Manchester case." McGonagall interrupted her. A note of sadness could be heard in the deputy headmaster's voice.

"It was one of the exchange students."

"The Obscurus was an exchange student. The Masked One was an exchange student. There is a pattern here." Kingsley said.

"Did someone from Beauxbatons come here with the students?"

"Yes, Madame Maxime and their Astronomy teacher, Pierre Derriere." McGonagall replied.

"Do you think one of them is Le Ombre, Kingsley?" Mr. Weasley asked the auror.

Moody replied instead of his subordinate.

"Too predictable, Arthur. If the scum actually wanted to be inside the school, he would have gotten more teachers to come with him. You can't hide a needle in a hay stack if there are only two haystraws."

Lupin nodded in agreement.

"Le Ombre doesn't operate from proximity. Otherwise he would have been spotted in France years ago. For all we know, he might be in a closeby town or even across the channel."

"He'll be using owls then. We should check the owlery."

Kingsley shook his head.

"We will, but letters are not the only way to communicate, Arthur. The Death Eaters have their Dark Mark tattoos. We can't be sure that Le Ombre doesn't have his own way to transmit messages too."

Meanwhile, Dumbledore had handed Moody the list with the required items.

"Nonsense except the last four as always." the one-eyed wizard commented after he had finished reading.

"The exchange students' luggage is already checked I presume? He doesn't have masks and feathers yet, the girl must have brought hers from France. I assume others will have too."

"Not necessarily. We know that feathers of these types were recently purchased in Hogsmeade."

The brow above Moody's real eye shot up. To compensate for its lack of an eyebrow, his crazy eye did a full spin.

"Who saw this?"

Dumbledore looked at Harry. A second later, so did all of the newcomers. The headmaster sent him a subtle not, inviting him to tell his story again. The boy nodded back and returned to that day again. This time, however, he omitted telling who had accompanied him in _"The Three Broomsticks"_. The twins knowing about it was one thing, but Harry would rather not tell the Weasleys about his relationship with their daughter just yet.

Moody grunted when he heard the trader's last name, but didn't interrupt the story. Only when Harry had finished describing the black figure did the head auror speak up.

"This Ashpot fellow you mentioned, Potter, was his full name Brutus Ashpot by any chance?"

Now that the one-eyed wizard had said it, Harry remembered the seller's full name too.

"Yes, sir."

"That makes things a bit easier. I know the lad. He'd sell his own mother if he thought it would earn him a knut. Shacklebolt, Tonks, I'll tell you his address later. Let him know he can see the inside of either my office this Friday or his old cell in Azkaban until Christmas. If he keeps saying he's innocent ask him how well his smuggled magical lamps are doing on the market."

"What about the shrouded figure? That could have been Le Ombre." Tonks asked.

"We will discuss this too." Dumbledore said.

"But first, Molly, could you please escort Harry back to the Gryffindor common room? It has been a long day for all of us and I'm certain he must be feeling exhausted."

Harry's mood sank. He supposed he never should have hoped that the headmaster would let him join the Order. Maybe he was even lucky that he had not been expelled.

Dumbledore, however, was not finished.

"Our discussion isn't over either, Harry. The future is like post- you never know what it brings until your owl lands on the table."

Harry dwelled on this cryptic remark as he followed Mrs. Weasley out of the room and down the spiral staircase. These words both confused and encouraged him.

* * *

"How is school so far, dear?" the witch asked after the stone gargoyle had leapt behind them, blocking the entrance to Dumbledore's office.

"It's going well, Mrs. Weasley, thanks."

"Are you doing something new this year?"

"Yes, there is a new Experimental magic extracurricular course. It's pretty interesting."

"Oh, right, Ginny told me about this one. You two are going to this class together, right?"

The boy nodded, oblivious to the trap that was slowly closing around him.

"She told me it was really fun to work together with you. You two seem to have gotten really close to each other."

Harry now realised where the conversation was heading. Trying to pass off a nervous smile as an innocent one, he engaged in defensive manoeuvres.

"Well, we spent the summer together. I guess we hadn't been close friends before because we hadn't spent enough time in each other's company."

It was too little, too late and Mrs. Weasley wasn't buying the boy's bluff. Smiling with one corner of the mouth only, she resumed mercilessly following the line of the conversation.

"It was also very kind of you to help her get on the quidditch team. She has wanted to play for Gryffindor ever since the Sorting Hat came off her head."

Harry's counterargument was a bit more solid this time.

"Well, Katie's spot was free and I knew Ginny is a killer Chaser."

"Is she now?" the Weasley matriarch remarked coyly. Her ominous smile indicated certain defeat for the boy.

"Of course she is. You should come watch her during one of our trainings, Mrs. Weasley. The way she flies, it's so graceful..."

The boy trailed off, realising what he had just said. It was almost a confession. Trying hard not to show any signs of nervousness, the boy turned to look towards the witch. Oddly enough, she didn't show surprise at his words.

Unfortunately, that was just because she wasn't done teasing him.

"I'm sure it is, with a broom like a _Nimbus_. Ginny told me that you arranged it for her. That's so sweet, dear."

"That was mostly professor McGonagall. I just suggested it." the boy said, raising one last defensive wall between Mrs. Weasley and the truth.

The witch smiled knowingly and prepared to deliver a final blow that would erase the wall from existence.

"Well... Ginny also told me something else, Harry. She told me a story about a boy she loves. A boy who finally mustered up the courage to reveal his feelings too. A boy who just held her hand and looked at her for five full minutes. A boy who waded through a small lake and got soaked to the bone so that she would remain dry. The same boy that topped it all off with a kiss in the dusk. Do you know this outstanding young man, Harry? Or was that mostly Professor McGonagall too?"

Harry could recognise defeat when he saw it. On the other hand, Mrs. Weasley didn't seem to be angry about the entire thing. On the contrary, she looked as excited as a child on Boxing Day. Still, the boy decided that testing the grounds couldn't hurt.

"Mostly Professor McGonagall isn't very believable, is it?" he remarked ironically.

The Weasley matriarch laughed and shook her head.

"No more than a pink hippogriff. So what you're saying is...?"

"I'm seeing Ginny."

"Finally! I'm so happy for the two of you, dear! See? It wasn't that difficult to say it. Why did you take so long?"

The boy frowned.

"Well, Ron found out first. He wasn't very happy about it."

The witch's cheer diminished a bit. Still, judging by her wide smile, Harry wouldn't describe her as anything less than exhilarated.

"Yes, Ginny told me about that too. I'm sorry, Harry, he takes after Percy a bit. He was like that too when Fred and George started seeing girls."

"Yes, they told me."

"Oh, so you told them about seeing Ginny?"

"Ginny did."

The witch looked at him and chuckled.

"You know, Harry, Arthur was like that in the very beginning too. He was so shy that I think even his goldfish didn't know that he was seeing me. He didn't open up about it until he met my family."

The last sentence gave the Weasley matriarch an epiphany.

"That's it!" she exclaimed, snapping her fingers.

"You will do the same. This Christmas, at the Burrow, when we are all together. If you can say it then and there, you'll be able to say it to anyone."

Unease at the prospect of confessing his relationship so openly and pleasant surprise that the Weasleys had invited him to the Burrow for Christmas mixed in Harry's head. The surprise must have been the one painted on his face, because Mrs. Weasley reacted to it.

"What? You didn't think we would leave you to stay here in Hogwarts, did you? Remember what I told you during the summer, Harry. I'll make sure you never have a bad holiday again, dear."

A warm, fuzzy feeling spread inside Harry as the two walked closer and closer to the common room. If all the Weasleys reacted like Mrs. Weasley, he thought, maybe telling them that he was seeing Ginny was not going to turn out that bad after all.

* * *

The conversation with Mrs. Weasley was very pleasant. However, it had come at the end of a very tiring day for Harry. In the span of less than twenty-four hours, he had battled an Obscurus, witnessed the return of a new dark wizard and sneaked illegally into a meeting of the Order of the Phoenix. Therefore, it was no wonder that the boy was extremely fatigued when he finally climbed up to his room. He would have liked nothing more than to just fall straight down on his bed and not move until the following day. However, to his surprise, it was occupied.

The moonlight was painting Ginny's hair copper and her skin marble, giving her the appearance of a statue of a sleeping nymph. The girl had fallen asleep on her side, head facing the window and hands curled up in front of her. For a minute, Harry just stood still and watched her, absorbed in the scene as in a painting. When he felt fatigue starting to take over control of his eyelids though he knew it was time to go.

The boy unfolded his Invisibility Cloak and spread it over Ginny visible side up, pulling it all the way up to her shoulders. He didn't know if it was warmer in the girls' rooms and he didn't want her to catch a cold. When he was satisfied with his work, he bent down and kissed her forehead lightly. After watching her for a bit at the start of the stairs, Harry turned away and headed to the couch in the common room where he would spend the night.

* * *

 **A.N.:** Hope you liked this one! I'm more satisfied with its length than the one of Ch.12, that one was way too long and took ages to write. Ch.14 will probably have a similar length to this one, so you can expect it in a week or two.

You may have noticed that a small part in the middle of the chapter was told from Ginny's POV. I'm using this as a test because I'd like to use more POV's than just Harry later in the story (probably Ginny and maybe Luna). Therefore, I would greatly appreciate your feedback. Would you like more POVs or should I stick with Harry?

Finally, a small note about some old chapters. I'll be updating some of them because my writing has improved a bit since I started the story. Don't feel obligated to go back and reread; I'm not adding any new stuff, just rewriting the old things. If you do want to compare new to old though, you're more than welcome to do so, of course.


	14. Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw

**Chapter 14: Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw**

A weak gust blew a few fallen leaves across the window of the Gryffindor common room. Their vibrant reddish orange hue contrasted beautifully with the clear sky behind them. A few owls also darted past, revelling in the brisk Saturday morning air.

"Harry! At least pretend to listen, please?"

The boy shifted his attention from the picturesque image of autumn outside the window back to Angelina Johnson.

"Alright, let's recap: Alicia, Ginny, we're opening with Trank's triple configuration, be ready to switch flanks at any time. If Ravenclaw starts to figure it out, try Nettlesworth's rake. Fred, George, aim those Bludgers at the flanking Chasers, their central one is weak. Harry, if you let Cho Chang get that Snitch before you do, Ginny won't be the only one out to get you, believe me."

The other two girls chuckled at their captain's remark.

"Ron, you showed us what you can do at the tryouts. Do the same things and I'm more than sure we'll have no trouble with getting the lead."

The redhead nodded silently.

"Are you all ready to go?" professor McGonagall asked as she entered the room. After receiving a round of confirmations, she beckoned the team to follow her and lead the way back to the Fat Lady.

She was probably only doing it to show her support, Harry thought. Their group was big enough not to be accompanied by a teacher. The new emergency rules that had come into effect since Le Ombre's reveal were strict, but not as restricting as the ones that had been in place after the Chamber of Secrets had been reopened, seeing as nobody had been harmed. Students were still allowed to go out without a teacher, provided that they did so in groups of five or more.

It all felt very odd to Harry. Hogwarts seemed remarkably unchanged after the attack, as if everything had happened only in his dreams. The students that the quidditch team passed by on the way to the pitch were still frolicking as usual. A bunch of first-years had even started an eating contest with Peeves. The boys were way ahead as the poltergeist was more interested into hurling the food they offered him rather than eating it.

The exchange students were an exception. Before the masked girl had delivered her master's terms, one could hardly distinguish them from their Hogwarts peers with which they readily mingled. Now they huddled together with others from Beauxbatons only and spoke nervously and quietly, as if raising their voices would summon the object of their discussions.

Castle grounds were relatively empty, but Harry still noticed a few couples and trios heading to the Black Lake to check how cold the water was. He wasn't surprised; perfect quidditch conditions were also perfect conditions for a walk and the boy would have gladly taken Ginny on one were it not for the match.

As the team and McGonagall neared the stadium, it became apparent where the majority of Hogwarts' residents was. A distinct buzz carried through the air, one that could only be emitted by a beehive or dozens upon dozens of students chatting about the upcoming match, shouting a bit to be heard over the other discussions.

The chilly gust that carried the buzz wasn't kind to the girls in the team, removing any sign that they had done something with their hair after getting up from bed. However, it was even unkinder to Hermione who was waiting for the team next to the entrance of the boys' changing room. Her bushy hair was more amorphous than usual and seemed to have a life of its own. With her red Weasley-made jumper with "SPEW" emblazoned on it in big green letters, Hermione looked like a gorgon campaigning for house elf rights.

"Good morning! I just wanted to wish you all good luck before the game started!"

"Don't worry about it, Hermione, it's just the Ravenclaws." Fred replied.

"The crow-brains will be too busy calculating their broom vectors to actually watch where they're flying. We're pretty much guaranteed to win."

McGonagall shot the twin a disapproving look, but didn't reproach him. While the Slytherins were the Gryffindors' greatest nemeses, a match with one of the other two houses still got the blood boiling. Calling the other house's team names was a regular occurrence that had by now become a standard part of the pre-game excitement. Teachers only stepped in if it evolved in a scuffle.

The pre-game excitement, however, was about to be replaced by in-game excitement. Hermione waved Harry, Ginny and Ron goodbye and followed professor McGonagall to the stairs leading to the stands. Meanwhile, the team split into boys and girls and each group entered their respective changing room.

After he had put on his water-resistant quidditch trousers, Harry reached for the robe. Lying underneath it was something he had almost forgotten he had; the anti-rain goggles Ron had gifted him for his birthday. The boy hesitated. There had been no cloud in sight near the castle. The chances of rainfall were almost zero.

"Hurry up, lads! We've got a match to win." Fred called out as he and George went out onto the pitch, leaving Harry and Ron alone in the room.

The Gryffindor Seeker's former friend was quite surprised to see Harry wearing the goggles.

"Good luck, Ron." Harry said as he followed the twins, expecting no answer.

"Good luck, Harry."

The Gryffindor Seeker grinned when he heard that. It was certainly an improvement over what his friend had been like a week ago. Maybe he could try to get things straight with Ron after the game was over.

Madam Hooch was in the middle of her usual safety speech when Harry and Ron joined their team members at the centre of the pitch.

"I want no foul play. Beaters, watch your bats! They are for bludgers only. If I see one of you using it on another player on purpose, it's detention until Christmas. Are we clear?"

She received nods from all members of both teams.

"Good. We can begin then."

"Madam Hooch, wait!" a Ravenclaw fourth-year called out when the witch bent down to open the case containing all the balls.

"Our Seeker isn't ready yet."

The falcon-faced witch blinked twice, confused.

"That's odd. Miss Cho is usually the first of you here."

"She's ill. We're playing with our reserve Seeker."

Harry barely had time to wonder who his opponent for this game would be if not Cho Chang when a blue figure appeared at the entrance to the Ravenclaw girls' changing room. It sprinted towards the rest and was there with them in a minute, panting heavily.

"Sorry I'm late." the short girl said while trying to tie her wind-blown hair into some semblance of a pony tail.

"I just felt a bit dizzy back there in the changing room."

Madam Hooch inspected her carefully.

"Are you sure that you're alright, Miss..."

"Derriere. No, thank you, I'm fine. Besides, I've been looking forward to this game." Cheryl said, winking first to Ginny and then to Harry.

The other witch nodded.

"Alright then, mount your brooms everyone!"

Harry straddled his _Firebolt_ and kicked off the ground. While the players rose higher, madam Hooch waited. When they reached a sufficient height, she opened the chest and pulled a small drawer. A golden Snitch shot out of it, immediately vanishing from sight. The bludgers were next, shooting skyward as soon as Madam Hooch unchained them. After that, she picked up the red quaffle and threw it up in the air. Cheers erupted from the crowd as the Chasers dove to catch it, marking the start of the game.

As he often did in the beginning of a match, Harry rose further up, leaving the game to unfold beneath him while he looked for the Snitch. This time, however, the small golden ball wasn't the sole focus of his attention. As much as the boy wanted Gryffindor to win their first match for the year, he was also eager to see how Ron and Ginny were doing during their first real game.

The girl was spectacular as always. If she was nervous, it certainly didn't show while she and Alicia twisted in the air, constantly swapping flanks and confusing the Ravenclaw defence. Bludgers aimed at them kept missing their mark.

At one point, two Ravenclaw Chasers flew on each side of Ginny, ready to intercept her next pass to Alicia and stop them from spiralling closer and closer to the Ravenclaw hoops. However, the girl surprised them by simply dropping the ball. The quaffle never reached the ground though, as Angelina had been waiting about ten feet below the Weasley girl. Their captain was left unguarded, the other Chaser still guarding Alicia. She shot towards the enemy Keeper, fast as a sirocco. In the last second, she swerved right, tricking the Keeper into following her. However, she still aimed at the central ring.

"10 points for Gryffindor!" Lee Jordan's magically amplified voice echoed from the stands.

"Angelina Johnson opens this match with a spectacular goal! Not as spectacular as her, if I might add..."

McGonagall's voice needed no magical amplification.

"Jordan, focus on the game! Leave the wooing for later!"

"Sorry, professor." the reprimanded boy replied.

"Alright, Ravenclaws seem to be back in the game. Tatley evades Weasley's bludger, and then the other Weasley's bludger. He passes the quaffle to Simmons and... oh no!"

Ron's fingers had brushed the quaffle, but the force his glove had exerted wasn't enough to stop the red ball from passing through the hoop behind him.

"The score is now equal." Lee Jordan remarked, somewhat somber.

"RUBBER FINGERS!" Slytherin's section of the stands yelled in unison. When Harry turned to look at that part of the stadium, he wasn't surprised to find Malfoy coordinating them, raising his arms as the Slytherins yelled again.

The Gryffindor Seeker decided he had lingered long enough. He moved to the edge of the field and started a circuit, checking his surroundings meticulously for a golden glint. Finding nothing during his first lap, the boy dove beneath the other players, deciding to scan the pitch itself. Cheryl was there too, doing the same. The boy split his attention. He continued looking around for the snitch, but also kept an eye on the girl. If she spotted it before he did, he had to know immediately or else it would be impossible to catch up to her.

Above their heads, the game continued. While somewhat disappointed that Ron had let Ravenclaw even out the score, Ginny didn't let that distract her. As soon as her brother passed her the quaffle, she lay low against the broom and dove sharply. The _Nimbus 2001_ 's magnificent acceleration soon got her going as fast as the Hogwarts Express running behind schedule.

Pulling out of the dive so low that her toes almost brushed against the grass, the girl sped across the field, her wake outlined in the green beneath her. She grinned, marvelling at the speed of her broomstick. Ginny had never flown so fast before. While she had practiced on it multiple times, there had been no occasion during the trainings for her to test the broom's full capabilities.

The Ravenclaw players in Gryffindor's half of the field couldn't hope to catch up with her. However, their Beaters were still near their own rings and flew down to meet her, coming at the girl from left and right. Nervousness overtook Ginny as two bats swung hard, each sending a bludger flying her way. Speed would only get her so far. Now it was time to test the _Nimbus'_ manoeuvrability.

The girl leaned to the left, hoping for a smooth turn that would get her out of harm's way. If she did lean until she was almost parallel to the ground, it was only because that's how she was used to turning on her _Shooting Star_ , an old broom that had really stiff controls. The 2001, on the other hand, handled like a dream. Therefore, it was no wonder that while Ginny had intended to just swerve a bit, she ended turning sharply to the left and almost doing a U-turn. Startled by the unexpected roll motion, the girl nearly fell off her broom, only managing to return to her upright position in the last moment.

While her manoeuvre had not been what she had planned, it was effective: the bludgers missed their mark by twenty feet. However, the Ravenclaw Beaters didn't give up. The two still charged at her, determined to stop her attack. Ginny grinned and lay low against her broom. The eyes of the Beaters became wide as saucers when a crimson comet shot off straight ahead, her course set for them.

The girl had to admit, they didn't give up easily. Even when she was only about ten feet away, they resumed their charge. They were probably hoping she would chicken out. She did. Only it was about nine feet later than they expected.

The strands of her broom brushed against the shoulder of one of the boys as she turned sharper than any sane Chaser would, this time intentionally. After the girl left the Beaters behind her back, the rings were wide open.

Ginny leaned almost unnoticeably, finally getting the wide gradual turn she had aimed for the first time. She let herself decelerate. Flying at the _Nimbus'_ maximum speed was one thing but trying a feint while moving so fast would probably lead to her barfing on the pitch. Her deceleration emboldened the Ravenclaw Keeper. He stood between the central and the left ring, obviously trying to bait Ginny into shooting in the right one. It was a good trick, but the girl had a better one in mind. She entered a series of quick zigzags, heading for the central ring. Then, right at the end of one zigzag, she swerved right, as if falling for his trap. The Keeper was quick to intercept her, flying to the seemingly unguarded ring in less than a second. However, he wasn't quick enough to dart back to his previous position on time. As soon as he moved, Ginny turned sharply, heading for the defenceless left ring.

"Gryffindor is in the lead again!" Lee Jordan cheered along with her.

Across the field, Ron smiled when he saw his sister raise her arms in triumph. He was happy to watch her play. It reminded him of all the games they had played in the Burrow's orchard that summer. She was as good a Chaser here as she had been there, if not better.

Nonetheless, these memories also included somebody he would rather not think about. Ron wouldn't admit it if anyone asked, but he missed Harry. Hermione was a great friend, but she wasn't someone to chill and do nothing with. The bushy-haired girl always found something to fill up free time, like a visit to the library or knitting small hats for the Hogwarts house elves. Without Harry, there was a lot less wizard chess and joking around and a lot more studying and responsibilities.

The game paused, giving the Ravenclaw Keeper time to fetch the quaffle. While Ron waited for it to start again, a certain idea formed in his head. What if he and Harry made amends? The thought had its appeal. With Harry, the Weasley was sure school would again become as enjoyable as their summer at the Burrow had been.

However, this dispute had a more complicated reason than the one from the previous year. The root of the argument this time was Ron's concern for both Ginny and his friend.

The Gryffindor Keeper had nothing against the relationship itself. He much preferred Ginny seeing Harry instead of the Michael Corner fellow she had gone out with twice the previous year. However, Ron thought that his friend had rushed it. He had only started spending more time with Ginny during the summer. It was too early for them to be more than friends and the relationship could easily turn sour, something Ron hoped to prevent. The Weasley had tried to imply it, but then Harry had gotten mad and he had gotten mad too and he had instead gone with a false argument he had thought would be more convincing. He regretted that it had all happened like that.

It was just that when it came to girls, Ron thought it was always better to wait rather than hurry. He agreed with Lancelot Leperby, captain of the "Chudley Cannons" who said that the long game was the best game.

Madam Hooch's whistle marked the renewal of the match and took the boy's thoughts off the girl a small voice in the back of his head called his long game.

"You show them, Ron!" Hermione's shout encouraged him from the stands.

The Ravenclaws launched a new attack. The twins managed to take a Chaser out of the equation by forcing her to retreat, however the other two were still approaching. Ron exhaled all the air in his lungs, then took a deep breath.

The Chasers' movements were rather predictable now that the boy was focused solely on them. They had used the exact same moves when they had scored their first goal. Ron supposed that they wouldn't attempt the same as before. Their goal had been through the central loop. Now the side ones would be the targets.

The Weasley hovered in front of the central ring, ready to dart sideways at any moment. The central Chaser was flying towards him. She suddenly passed the quaffle to her teammate on the left. The Gryffindor Keeper would have moved to match, had he not noticed the small grin the two exchanged, a promise for a double bluff. The boy rotated to the left, but didn't actually move away. Still, it was close enough to fool Ravenclaw's central Chaser who was only watching him with the corner of her eye, too focused on her teammate. In a second, the quaffle was back in her hands and she hurled it straight at the centre ring... only for it to fall right into the hands of the Keeper she thought she had fooled.

The Gryffindors' cheers let Harry know that his friend had not let the ball pass through the loop this time. Smiling, he resumed the hunt for the snitch. He alternated between flying high and low a few more times, but to no avail. The golden ball seemed to be gone from the face of the Earth.

Time passed, but the boy was so consumed by his task that he hardly heard his house celebrating the goals and saves that followed. He had no idea what the score was, completely absorbed in a mundane and seemingly pointless search.

"British snitches don't happen to have camouflage, do they?"

The boy chuckled.

"Not to my knowledge." he told Cheryl, who had abandoned the search in favour of a conversation.

"Who knows though? Maybe they're implementing it and we're the guinea pigs."

"What if it's those WWW fellows? Last I heard they were developing toffee snitches."

"Fred and George wouldn't do that during a game they're in. If they had, we'd know it from the bludgers already."

Before Harry could tell Cheryl about the piñata bludger, a golden glimmer appeared by the Hufflepuff stands. The girl saw it first.

"Finally!" she said as she rolled right. Harry tailed her so close that the last twigs of her broom were inches away from his face. The _Firebolt_ was fast, but so close to Cheryl Harry couldn't get around the girl without knocking her off her broom and that wasn't sportsmanlike. The _Cleansweep_ 's speed wasn't too shabby either though. The boy had to think of something fast or he could kiss victory goodbye.

He slowed down, letting the Ravenclaw Seeker get a bigger lead. This gave him enough space to rise about a dozen feet above Cheryl's level without pushing her off her broom. Once he had climbed enough, Harry broke off the ascent and accelerated again, renewing his pursuit.

His strategy was a risky one. The flash had been about twenty feet from the ground. When they had seen it, he and the French girl had been at no more than three. Harry was basically wagering Gryffindor's victory on the assumption that the snitch would fly higher in an effort to evade the exchange student's approach from below. His pause to climb had increased Cheryl's lead tremendously. If the snitch didn't fly up, Harry would never have enough time to catch up to her. She seemed to know that because she flashed him a smile, assuming that he had given up.

The snitch was close now. He could see it hovering a few feet below, about a yard ahead of him. The French girl was even closer. Grinning triumphantly, she extended her hand. The boy held his breath. The game would be decided in that very moment. If the snitch didn't move, he had already lost. If it flew sideways or downwards, Cheryl's lead would guarantee that she caught it first.

It leapt away from her fingers before shooting skyward. The girl looked up just in time to see her opponent dive, his hand positioned directly in the way of the small golden ball. She didn't give up though. With a speed Harry had never expected a _Cleansweep_ would be able to achieve, she chased the ball even though it was too late. His palm closed around it, the metal feathers tickling. The girl broke off her ascent a few feet above Harry's level.

"Good game. Very clever move, that last one." she said while he raised his fist triumphantly, the tiny ball squirming in his grasp.

"Thanks. You played very well too."

Those were Harry's last words before he found himself stuck between his teammates, who had all flown towards him as soon as they had seen the raised fist, merging into a giant pile of people and brooms which only miraculously remained in the air.

"Yes, you showed them how it's done, Harry!" Fred exclaimed from somewhere within that pile.

"I hope Slytherin watched carefully. That way they'll know there's no point in even bothering to come to our game."

"You all did spectacular today, team!" Angelina called from another part of the pile.

"Alicia, your passes were amazing today. Ginny, dear, you're a treasure. Fred, George, you gave 'em hell, keep it up. Harry, great as always. Ron... what can I say? How did you even do that? It looked like you knew what they were going to do before they did."

"I just watched them closely. Nothing special."

"Keep watching then, Ron. Keep watching like that and we'll have the cup in the common room this June!" George said.

The cheers and the shouting of the ecstatic Gryffindors grumbled in the background, almost drowning out some parts of the team's conversation. It was because of that background noise that Harry didn't hear the first grunts and hisses of pain. He only realised something was wrong when the pile fell apart, enabling him to see his surroundings again.

The French Seeker was bent almost in half on her broom, clutching her belly with her hands. Noticing her distress, Harry tilted his _Firebolt_ and rose to check up on her. Ron and Ginny were second to notice and followed him.

"Cheryl, what's happening? Should I call Madam Pomphrey?" the boy asked with concern, hovering a few feet away from the girl's _Cleansweep._ Her face was all screwed up and her breaths were shallow and quick.

Her first attempt to reply was incomprehensible, consisting of a rasping gasp and a series of barely audible mumbles. Their tone indicated great pain.

Cheryl's second attempt to speak followed right after Ron and Ginny had risen too.

"Go. Away."

The Gryffindor Seeker had expected to hear the pain in her voice. The panic, however, was unexpected.

"All of you, back on the GROUND, NOW!"

By that point the chatter of the crowd had died down, the cheer of winning replaced with concern for the girl who seemed to be injured. Therefore, the last two words that Cheryl yelled out reverberated from the stands, muffled by nothing.

Harry turned around and pointed first at his team, then down. They got the message and descended, soon followed by their opponents. After a few seconds the only ones remaining in the air were him, Cheryl, Ginny and Ron. The chills creeping up Harry's spine told him something bad was about to happen.

"It's too early. It's too early. It's too early." the French girl kept mumbling to herself.

"I timed it. It can't be now. No way."

"Cheryl, calm down. Tell me how to help." the boy said, trying to keep his voice calm and reassuring.

"I can't suppress it anymore, Harry. It's too early, but it's here now. Please..."

Cheryl's sentence was interrupted by a sudden gasp. A tremble went through the girl's body and vanished as suddenly as it had appeared. She slowly took her hands off her belly, her face no longer wrinkled with effort. As she turned her hand to look at it, Harry saw black greasy smoke gathering in her palm.

She raised her head to look at Harry. Fear was peeking at him from behind her glassy eyes.

"I'm sorry. I tried." she uttered pitifully as the smoke crawled up her arm faster than lightning.

Harry turned around and tried to get as far away as possible. Ginny and Ron, however, hadn't seen the smoke pooling in her hand. To them, she was still just a girl in pain. Realising his mistake, Harry turned again, only to see the cloud engulfing a tear-streaked face.

The Obscurus roared like a steam engine. It formed two giant tendrils, the remainder of it shrinking to provide enough mass, and swung them at the Weasleys. They didn't have time to react, nor did Harry have time to get to them. The hit sent the two plummeting along with their brooms. Ignoring the Obscurus for a moment, Harry dove past it in pursuit of them.

The _Firebolt_ was fast, but Harry couldn't accelerate to the necessary speed as quickly as he needed to. Ginny and Ron were a few feet beneath him, their red quidditch robes rippling as they flew down at a deadly speed.

Waves of relief as big as tsunamis washed over the boy when he saw professor McGonagall and professor Ortington rushing out on the pitch, wands aimed at the falling students. Their fall slowed down and when they hit the ground it wasn't very different from a fall from one of the apple trees that grew in the Weasleys' orchard.

The hit rendered Ron conscious. Confused, he tried to stand up, but settled for sitting up. The red hot pain in his shoulder stopped him from attempting more.

Harry landed next to him and Ginny, who was still unconscious. Ron turned to speak to the other boy, but Harry didn't pay him any attention. He walked past him and knelt down next to his sister. He then took off his goggles and held them above her mouth, his hand trembling. The boy let out a huge sigh of relief when her breath fogged them up.

"Gin? You hear me?" he asked. When she opened her eyes, he immediately pulled her up in his embrace, squeezing her in a hug so tight that Ron was reminded of Aunt Muriel's vice-like hugs.

"Ow, ow, ow, stop, Harry. I've got enough ribs broken already." Ginny protested from within the steel embrace.

The boy let her go and helped her sit up.

"I don't know what I would do if..."

He didn't finish the sentence, but he also didn't need to. His panicked, hollow tone still conveyed the message to both Weasleys.

"Don't worry, I'm fine. Or at least as fine as I can be after a friend transforms into an angry cloud and tries to bludgeon me."

Harry nodded and let her rest, moving on to Ron.

"Are you alright?" he asked worriedly. The Weasley nodded.

"Good, I'll..."

The Obscurus reminded them of its presence with a sharp shriek. Sirius had followed McGonagall and Ortington and had tried to stun it. It flared red, but their Defence teacher was way out of its reach. The cloud swirled in the air, scanning its surroundings. Students shrieked in terror as they raced towards the steps leading off the stands and onto the school grounds outside the stadium.

Ron expected it to attack Sirius. After all, he had challenged it. However, it instead dove towards the boy, who grew pale when he saw it approaching. It was aiming for the targets it had already weakened.

"Blimey." the Weasley and Harry uttered almost simultaneously. The other boy turned to look at him.

"Look after Ginny. I'll keep it distracted."

"Wait, how?" the girl asked, but Harry didn't hear her, already straddling his broomstick. Before she had a chance to say something more, he shot upwards, charging the Obscurus. Just when it was about to engulf him, Harry swerved to the right and evaded its attack. He hovered a few feet away from the creature and threw something small and shiny at it.

Ginny was incredulous.

"Was that what I think it was?"

Harry's only hope was the snitch strategy. If the cloud didn't chase the golden ball but focused entirely on him, he was done for. Luckily, the snitch still had life left in it. It unfolded its wings in mid-air and halted a few inches away from the Obscurus. Interested, the creature reached out with a smaller tendril. True to its nature, the quidditch ball jumped away from it and flew away. The Obscurus flared orange and chased it. Harry used that precious time to fly as high up as he could.

The snitch annoyed the Obscurus. Whenever it thought it had captured it, the golden ball whizzed away. The cloud ended the game with a slash of a bladelike tendril, sending two golden hemispheres falling down. Before it had a chance to return its attention to Ron and Ginny, a Stunner from above caused it to let out its distinctive roar, a weird combination of a lion and an engine. Abandoning its previous victims, the Obscurus picked him as a target, just like Harry had intended.

He had, however, not anticipated the speed it could develop. The greasy cloud put any broom ever made to shame and almost reached Harry's elevation in less than five seconds. This forced him to reconsider his plan. He had thought he could just keep it chasing after him in circles until Dumbledore arrived. Its speed rendered that idea useless. However, speed was not everything.

With a new idea in mind, Harry dived sharply before the Obscurus got to his level. It shot past him on its way up, flaring red. However, it was a slave to its own momentum which carried it about forty feet farther up before it was able to stop. This gave the boy time to put enough distance between them to remain safe for at least a few seconds. Sure enough, the roar sounded again and the cloud was soon on his heels. This time Harry straightened out his dive and flew parallel to the ground, leaving the Obscurus to fly by again, unable to turn as quickly as the boy. He had won a few more seconds. That was good. He could keep on using the strategy until Dumbledore arrived or he ran out of luck. The Gryffindor hoped the former would happen before the latter.

Meanwhile, Ron was more than certain that he was in shock. He had no other way to explain his irrational thoughts. Their lives were still in danger and he had much more important things to worry about like his shoulder for example. Nevertheless, he kept thinking about one thing only- how Harry had rushed to Ginny earlier and what it said about him. The Seeker had outright ignored his best friend until he was completely certain that she was alright. That wasn't what someone unsure in their relationship would have done. Maybe Harry hadn't rushed it after all.

The more Ron considered it, the more he realised he had been the one who was wrong. Deep in thought, the boy barely noticed McGonagall and Ortington getting him up on his feet.

"I'm sorry, Ginny." he blurted out. His sister looked quizzically at him while Sirius helped her up.

"The argument was stupid. I messed things up with you, me and Harry. "

The girl laughed.

"You picked a marvellous time for this, Ron."

"Concussions, both of them. Maybe dislocated shoulders too." McGonagall put the diagnose..

"Percy, get them to Poppy, please. They'll need some rest."

"Yes, professor." Ortington replied. He took each Weasley by the hand not attached to an injured shoulder and pulled them as he headed to the exit.

A new shriek pierced the air, this time accompanied by a human shout. Ron raised his head when drops of blood dripped on the grass in front of him. Harry was still managing to get the Obscurus to chase him, but not without paying a price. The boy was holding his left elbow against his quidditch shirt. Soaked with blood, the shirt then dripped it everywhere the boy flew.

In shock or not, Ron would never leave Harry alone in a dire situation. That at least he was sure about. When his eyes stumbled upon the two halves of the snitch his friend had used to distract the cloud, he had an epiphany. He yanked his hand free of their Experimental Magic teacher's hold and ran. He soon reached the coach's room.

"Madam Hooch! Madam Hooch!" he yelled as he slammed the door with his good hand. The thought that she might have already evacuated didn't cross his mind. Luckily enough, she hadn't.

"You're in shock, Weasley." she said as soon as she opened the door.

"Go to Madam Pomfrey, She can help."

Ron shook his head stubbornly.

"Harry needs help."

"Professor Dumbledore is on his way. He will..."

"He needs help now. I need snitches. Old snitches, new snitches, any snitches"

The witch knitted her eyebrows.

"What in the name of Merlin's knickers are you going to do with them, Weasley?"

"The Obscurus chases them."

The witch's eyes widened as comprehension dawned on her.

"Good idea. Here are the snitches." she said, grabbing a bag from her desk.

"You stay here, I'll fly up and... stop it, Weasley! Come back! You are in no condition to help!"

Ron yanked away the bag and ran. She was chasing him, but it didn't matter. He had the snitches and she couldn't outrun a broom. Picking up the first one he found lying around, Ron straddled it and kicked off, heading towards Harry.

A tendon. That was what Harry assumed the sharp tendril had cut in his arm. It explained why he couldn't fold his left elbow and why it bled so much. The Obscurus had caught up with him faster than expected the sixth time and had slashed at him. It was a small miracle that it had somehow missed the bone.

A non-functional, bleeding elbow was a hard obstacle for Harry to tackle. He barely managed the seventh swerve, his injured arm pulsing with pain as hot as dragon's breath and demanding his attention. He was slower and he didn't win that much time from the cloud being carried away. The boy had a nasty feeling that his luck was going to run out before the tenth time for sure. He wasn't even that certain there was going to be an eighth.

The Obscurus flew behind him as the boy resumed his dive. When it got too close for comfort, Harry pulled up, steadying himself about twenty feet off the ground. He had no more energy left in him and knew the black cloud had him.

A snitch whizzed past his ear. Harry turned left to look at it, wondering how it had appeared. The Obscurus was equally surprised. Just like before, it chased the golden ball around before growing tired of its toy and cutting it in two.

"Have some more on me." a familiar voice said as five more snitches darted past Harry. This time, the boy turned to the right. Ron was hovering in the air a few feet away from him, holding a brown bag with multiple patches in it with his left hand and reaching inside it with his right. He pulled it out and threw golden balls at Harry and the Obscurus behind him. They grew wings in mid-air and flew past the boy.

"Ah, whatever. We'll gather them later if they force us to." the redhead remarked when he turned the bag upside down. A meteor cluster soon transformed into a golden swarm which headed for the Obscurus, where the five previous snitches were whizzing around, foiling the creature's attempts to capture them.

The dozen new golden targets proved too much for the Obscurus. It elected to ignore the annoying whizzing things in the air surrounding it and instead focus on its enemy again. Still, the snitches had won the two boys a few more seconds. A few very valuable seconds.

" _Protego!"_ Ron shouted before he gave Harry a nod. The Seeker needed no further prompting. Drawing his wand from the pocket of his quidditch robe with his unharmed hand, he gave it two flicks and cast the necessary spell.

" _Pom Pom!"_

The barrier closed around the Obscurus just like it had around the previous one on Wednesday. It thrashed and whirled inside, but to no avail. Its prison was impenetrable.

Or so Harry thought until he and Ron landed and he felt his legs give way. Only then did he realise how tired he was. The last thing Harry saw before fainting was the Shield Charm vanishing around the Obscurus and Ortington casting some sort of blue sparkly spell on the creature.

* * *

 **A.N.:** How did you like this chapter? Is the multiple PoV thing working or is it confusing?


	15. Recovery

**Chapter 15: Recovery**

Harry knew where he was without needing to look. The various ointments all had distinctive smells and their mix was as much a part of the hospital wing as the comfortable beds with curtains around them. Knowing that he was safe, the boy opened his eyes and took in his surroundings. The curtains around his bed weren't drawn, but his view was still severely limited by the fluffy feather pillow that protruded into two giant mountains on either side of his face.

When the Seeker tried to sit up, he stumbled upon the first change. His left arm was bound in a rigid, L-shaped white cast starting from the midpoint between his shoulder and elbow and reaching all the way down to his wrist. A cord made out of twisted bandages was slung around it, its two ends connecting behind Harry's neck. At first the boy was confused, but after a second he remembered what the Obscurus had done to him. This also reminded Harry of what it had done to the others. Eager to see where they were, the boy tried to push himself up using his right arm only. He succeeded after a brief struggle.

All other beds in the room were empty, save for two on Harry's left side. In them lay the two Weasleys. Ginny, who was on the closer bed, was still asleep by the looks of it. Ron, however, was awake and in a similar position to Harry. Noticing his friend had awoken, the redhead waved. Harry was about to ask him how he was feeling, but thought better of it. Shouting over Ginny would surely wake her up and she needed the rest. A different solution was necessary.

The boy used his good hand to pull aside the sheets covering him. Then he swung his legs over the edge of the bed. He didn't push himself off as usually, unsure if he could hold his own weight. Instead, he slowly slid off the bed, letting his legs take more and more of his weight until he was finally standing. He didn't feel any discomfort besides the thug of the cast on his neck and the chill that was crawling up his feet from the marble floor plates. Despite feeling tired and sleepy, the boy had enough energy to take the short trip to Ron.

Once he had reached his friend's bed, Harry promptly sat in the couch next to it, carefully letting his injured arm rest down on the armrest, relieving the tension in his neck. Meanwhile, Ron shifted his pillow so that leaning against it was more comfortable. The Weasley was in no better condition than Harry was. Instead of his red hair, a turban made of bandages topped off his head, tied beneath his chin for stability. A big protrusion of his pyjamas on his right shoulder indicated where the rest of the bandages had gone. The bump resembled a shoulder pad, making the boy look like a rugby player, if any rugby team wore pink uniforms with a white bunny pattern.

Ron noticed that his friend was quite amused by his attire.

"If you tell nobody about the bunnies, I'll tell nobody about the teddy bears."

This shifted Harry's attention to his own pyjamas. Just as Ron had said, they were patterned with teddy bears, the small brown toys set against a banana yellow background. Realising that his clothing wasn't any less ridiculous than his friend's, the Gryffindor Seeker chuckled and nodded with agreement.

"Not a word. How are you feeling?"

"Still hurts a bit, but I'll live. At least it's not like somebody dropped a bludger on it anymore." Ron replied, motioning towards his injured shoulder.

"It was that bad? How did you manage to fly on that broom then?"

"You were in trouble. It was just the right thing to do."

This answer got Harry thinking. The Weasley was starting to sound more and more like his old self. The boy had no idea what had caused the sudden end to the hostility, but he was very glad that his friend was finally returning. Maybe the time was ripe to make amends.

"Look, Ron..." he started.

"I'm sorry about how things turned out. I should have told you I was planning on inviting Ginny to Hogsmeade. Keeping it a secret was silly."

"No, Harry, I should apologise." the Weasley replied.

"It was my fault. I made a fuss over nothing. I didn't mean all those things I said. My judgement got the better of me this time. Can you forgive me, Harry? Can we be friends again?"

Gryffindor's Seeker thought about it for a second. Part of him was still cross at Ron for his behaviour during the last few weeks. However, most of him was ecstatic about having the Weasley back as a friend and was willing to boy was soon ready with his decision.

"Of course, mate." he replied. Ron's grin mirrored his.

A grunt sounded from the other side of the couch. Turning around, Harry saw that Ginny had awoken. When she pulled her sheets aside and tried to sit up like her brother, he objected.

"Take it easy, Gin. We aren't going anywhere."

The girl scoffed and proceeded to sit up anyway.

"You aren't taking it easy. Harry isn't either."

"Yes, but we don't look like bloody mummies." Ron teased, pointing at her midriff. It was indeed tied up in bandages from her navel all the way to her chest. The girl also sported a shoulder pad identical to Ron's under her pyjamas.

Nevertheless, Ginny was ready with a comeback for her brother.

"Harry, I thought Sirius was teaching Defence this year." she told her boyfriend.

"What is Quirrell doing here, then?"

The boy chortled. However, by doing so, he started a war. The Weasley with the turban hadn't given up just yet. Sacrificing his support for ammunition, he picked up his pillow and hurled it at his sister, landing a hit straight in the face. While he sniggered triumphantly, she picked it up and threw it back at him along with her own. Harry suddenly found himself in the no man's land between two very aggressive opponents. He ducked, hoping that his neutrality would grant him immunity in the raging fight. It didn't and soon enough he was dragged into the pillow fight as well, changing sides whenever his ally betrayed him with an unexpected pillow to the head. The battle raged on for a few more intense minutes, the most of which the pillows spent airborne. Ceasefire came swift and unexpected when Madam Pomfrey entered the room, pushing a trolley with something tall covered with a sheet on top.

"Merlin's beard, what are you doing?" she exclaimed when she saw them. The woman then left the cart and rushed to the Weasleys' beds.

"I leave you alone for a few minutes and you re-enact the Goblin Wars." the nurse scolded them.

"You're here because you were all severely injured in an encounter with a dangerous magical creature. You're supposed to be resting!"

The trio smiled guiltily. The head nurse shook her head and returned to the trolley.

"Your friends wanted you to have this. If you ask me, you don't deserve it with that disrespect for your own health. Still, if my friends like had done something like this for me, I'd feel obliged to get them two rounds of butterbeers at least. Just a tip."

Madam Pomfrey then left the cart in front of Harry's armchair, right between Ron and Ginny's beds. Curious to see what she thought deserved such generosity, the three students leaned forward, eagerly waiting for the hidden object to be revealed. The adult witch didn't leave them waiting for long. She pulled the sheet off, issued each of them a stern look and left, leaving them to marvel at what she had unveiled.

The pile had everything in it: chocolate frogs, Bertie Bott's every flavour beans, sugar quills and even caramel cockroaches from Honeydukes. Every time Harry tried to think of some sweet that couldn't possibly be there, sure enough, there it was. There were even some Harry had never seen before: a few yellow cups were lying on their side near the base and a lot of candy in bronze wrapping was dispersed through the pile.

The Weasleys' eyes lit up with excitement. They slid towards the edges of their beds faster than Victor Krum chasing a snitch. Injuries were almost forgotten as the siblings savoured their present with great gusto. Meanwhile, their friend had already opened the first chocolate frog and was taking a look at the card inside.

"Ron, are you still collecting those? I've got someone called Maladina Gloomweather for you."

"Mmmph!" the redhead mumbled back, his mouth stuffed with caramel.

"I don't have her yet. Thanks." he clarified once he had swallowed. Harry nodded and handed him the card. Since the pyjamas had no pockets, the boy with the turban left it on the bed beside him.

"I wouldn't eat that if I were you." Ginny said when she saw Harry reaching for one of the yellow cups. Another one lay next to the girl, unopened.

"Read the fine print." she added when Harry regarded her with confusion.

The cup had a colourful logo consisting of three capital W's in different colours forming a small triangle and superimposing on each other. The big purple letters claimed that the cup contained vanilla cream custard. However, the boy heeded the girl's advice, finding another bunch of letters on the bottom of the cup. However, they were so tiny that even his glasses were of little use in deciphering them.

"It's too small, I can't read it."

"It's canary cream." Ginny replied. Upon hearing that, Ron dropped the cup he had gotten for himself like it was a spider. Luckily, the seal was still attached, so he didn't make a mess.

"Sneaking in Wheezes with a get-well present is a new level of low." he said.

Ginny nodded in agreement.

"It's getting out of hand. We'll have to do something about them."

Her brother locked eyes with her. Their grins told Harry that an unspoken promise had just been exchanged.

The rest of the unknown things in the pile also turned out to be Weasley Wizard Wheezes. It was no wonder that Harry hadn't recognised them at first. The twins had done some serious work on the packaging. The toffee snitches, which turned out to be the bronze candies, looked like they were actually a product of Honeydukes. The sour candy that bounced around one's mouth when they attempted to chew on it also had a very professional-looking package. Overall, WWW was starting to look more like an actual business than the twins' wacky hobby.

After they had consumed most of it, the three students found a second surprise waiting for them under the pile. A plain cardboard box lay on the cart tray, with the triple W logo printed on the top. Curious to see what was inside, Ginny lifted the lid. Beneath it lied a promised present for her birthday that she had never received, it having been replaced by a pair of slippers that became sentient near gnomes and kicked them. Harry instinctively drew away. He had already experienced the wrath of the piñata bludger and wasn't eager to relive that. Surprisingly though, the multicoloured ball didn't attack him. In fact, it didn't even grumble grumpily like normal bludgers did. In a way, it was more like a quaffle.

"Mighty odd." Ron remarked, equally taken aback by the stillness.

Ginny tentatively extended an index finger and touched the ball, ready to duck immediately. However, the bludger's reaction wasn't aggressive. Her touch just sent a ripple across the ball's surface, deforming the colourful strips that twisted around it. Out of those strips, letters formed.

"Tap me thrice if you want to play." the Weasley read out loud.

"How about no." her brother suggested. His proposal was met with unanimous agreement.

The twins' bludger reminded Harry of the game they had played on his birthday. He wondered if once the ball got activated it would move in odd curves instead of straight trajectories like its prototype did. He hoped they had kept that feature. It, along with the sugary loot at the core, was the best thing about the piñata.

Unfortunately, his memory of that day was tainted. He couldn't recall the quidditch match without remembering what had followed it. His train of thought moved on to Fleur's shock and fear and Lupin's story that explained it all. From there, it moved on to the masked girl and the Obscurial boy, Le Ombre's agents in Hogwarts. When Harry thought about that day and compared it to the current one, chills ran down his spine and a dark suspicion loomed over him.

"Do you think Cheryl is masked?"

The Weasleys turned to look at him. Their smiles vanished, replaced by expressions of doubt and worry. Harry knew what they were thinking about. The day after the first attack, the teachers had checked the luggage of the Obscurial boy. In his suitcase, they had found proof that Le Ombre's envoy hadn't lied. Hidden among shirts, robes and muggle clothes, there had been a brown mask, with red and blue plumage topping it off. Gryffindor's Seeker was sure that his friends were wondering if somebody would come through the door and tell them another mask had been found in Cheryl's luggage.

"No." Ginny replied firmly.

"We've been around her for weeks. We would have felt if something wasn't right."

Harry wanted to believe that with all his heart. However, he remembered what Lupin had said. A Masked One could perfectly emulate their unmasked version's behaviour, remaining undetected as long as needed.

"Gin's right." Ron supported his sister, noticing that his friend wasn't convinced.

"Besides, your friend didn't act like that other lad before he changed. He was calm and creepy. It looked like he welcomed it. She looked frightened and surprised by the Obscurus and tried to hold it back. Why would she warn us and try to stop it if Le Ombre was in control?"

Ron's argument was more persuasive and Harry felt the tension inside slowly ebbing. Still, it wasn't completely gone. In fact, the situation only became more confusing because of what the Weasley had pointed out. There had been two Obscurus attacks within the same week. It made sense for them to be related, but if what the redhead claimed was true, they weren't. This left the boy wondering how the French girl had developed an Obscurus, if not under Le Ombre's influence.

"Do you think she's alright?" Ginny asked, concerned.

"You will have the chance to ask her yourself, Ms. Weasley." McGonagall replied as she entered the room. Her surprised students turned to look at her almost simultaneously.

"Is she well already, professor?" the red-haired girl asked, hopeful. The older witch shook her head. Her expression was sombre.

"Miss Derriere wasn't harmed during the accident. Nonetheless, her state is fragile. That girl is more exhausted than the three of you. Madam Pomfrey and professor Derriere both insisted that she rest for at least a day. However, she wants to see you and Mr. Potter first, to offer you an explanation."

"Tell her she doesn't have to, professor." Harry said.

"She should recover first. We can wait for as long as that takes."

A small smile appeared on the deputy headmaster's face.

"Ms. Derriere stands her ground just like a Gryffindor. I doubt I would dissuade her if even her father couldn't. Anyway, it hardly matters now; they are on their way. I just wanted to ask you three to keep this conversation short. The sooner it ends, the longer your friend can rest."

After receiving their confirmation, McGonagall walked over to Ginny's bed and sat on the edge of it. Only then did she notice the pile of sweets, which was still a respectable size despite the students' best efforts.

"A get-well present from the rest of your team, I presume?"

"Yes, professor." the Chaser replied.

"That's very kind of them. Could you pass me a caramel apple, please? They are my favourite. Thank you."

Ginny's hair stood on its ends when her professor bit off a piece of the sweet. Knowing how strict her head of house was, she was certain that Fred and George were now in very serious trouble. The witch didn't show any signs that anything was wrong though. She resumed peacefully chewing. After swallowing, she carefully regarded the onion that was now in her hand.

"This explains the sudden interest your brothers showed in my fruit transfiguration lecture last Monday." she remarked.

The girl resumed waiting for the other shoe to drop. As much as she wanted it, she knew that the twins couldn't get away unscathed this time. Pulling a prank on McGonagall was a sure-fire way to get detention until the end of the term. However, she never could have anticipated her teacher's actual reaction.

"You can tell them it's very inventive, but it needs more work. The onion still tastes like a caramel apple, I'm afraid."

Just when their teacher had finished her onion, slow steps sounded from the corridor beyond the doorway, amplified by the echo. Upon hearing them, the deputy headmaster turned to her students and began to whisper.

"I do not want you to be scared. Miss Derriere looks a bit different from how you know her. Try not to show surprise."

Ginny was befuddled. Her head of house had said that Cheryl wasn't harmed, but now she was contradicting herself. The Chaser tried to find an alternate explanation. However, she didn't manage it on time. A few moments after the professor had issued her cryptic warning, the French girl limped through the door, leaning against her father for support.

When the Weasley girl saw her friend, an involuntary gasp started in her throat. However, remembering what McGonagall had just said, she managed to stifle it. Still, she could hardly believe what she was seeing. Cheryl was there, but not entirely. Her outlines were blurry and letting off a black haze. A few inches away from the girl, this halo thickened into greasy smoke and an Obscurus' typical tendrils formed, though none of them were longer than a foot. Ginny found it unnerving, watching them sway slowly like Black Lake algae. She couldn't shake the feeling that they were going to lash out at her at any moment.

Some of the tendrils swirled around the crutch the French girl held under her left arm. When professor Derriere helped her move closer to the beds, the Weasley saw that the Ravenclaw Seeker's right leg faded a few inches beneath her knee, absorbed by the halo that surrounded her. The final unsettling detail was the shining ethereal thread connected to her chest. It looped around the girl and the Obscurus' tendrils and connected to the wand tip of professor Ortington, who was walking a few feet behind his French colleague.

The next step caused Cheryl to wince. The black halo around her swirled and thickened, forcing the haze to inch inward. Horror arose inside Ginny as she watched the Obscurus consume the other girl. However, before the Gryffindor Chaser had time to duck or hide, the bond between her friend and the experimenter's wand flashed cerulean. The cloud was forced back outward and the boundary of the girl reformed from the haze.

"Hi, Ginny. Hi, Harry." she greeted once she got close enough. Her weak voice was barely audible enough to be heard even when she was mere feet away.

"And hello to you too." the girl added when she looked at Ron.

"I've seen you around, but I... don't think we have met properly."

"Oh, I'm Ron, nice to meet you. I'm Ginny's brother."

"Nice to meet you too, Ron." the French girl said as she nodded slightly. Some of the tendrils above her head imitated the movement.

McGonagall rose up, freeing her spot for Cheryl. She thanked her and slowly sat down. Her father held her by the hand, supporting her so that she wouldn't fall.

"I hope I am not too scary." the Obscurial girl joked.

"You aren't, don't worry." Ginny assured her. She had lied. Even though her friend was seemingly in control, she could not remain calm close to the Obscurus' tendrils swaying leisurely in the air. The Weasley only hoped that her unease didn't show. Apparently, it did, because the French student's smile faltered.

"I'm sorry to bother you; you must all be tired. I just wanted to check up on you after I... after what happened."

"We're alright, Cheryl. How about you?" Harry chimed in, feigning calmness quite succesfully. Nevertheless, Ginny could feel that he was also ready to duck at any second.

The exchange student let out a chuckle, but it was a hollow and joyless one.

"It'd be a lie if I said the same. Still, it could have been way, way worse. I'm glad to see that you're all fine."

Cheryl paused briefly, as if unsure what to say next. Her eyes darted between her dad and her schoolmates multiple times. Eventually, she seemed to come to some sort of decision and spoke again.

"I wanted to tell you why this happened."

Pierre Derriere's eyes widened. He squeezed his daughter's hand, attracting her attention and then looked at her imploringly. He said something in French, but she shook her head.

" _No, papá_. They need to know. I wouldn't tell them if I didn't have to. Now that He is back, I can't keep this a secret anymore."

Her father was shocked by her words. His initial surprise devolved into something bordering grief. He uttered a few more sentences in his language, his tone both begging and demanding. However, Cheryl was adamant despite the tear leaking down her left cheek.

"Yes, I know what they will do. However, they might not collar me if Dumbledore doesn't allow them to. Also, professor Ortington can show them that he can handle me, right, professor?"

"I'm at your service, Ms. Derriere. If I can do something more to help, just tell me."

The Obscurial girl smiled briefly before looking into her father's glassy eyes.

"The one thing I can't do, _papá_ , is keep quiet. Imagine how this must look to them and to everybody else."

For a few moments, professor Derriere remained frozen, still as a statue. Afterwards, he nodded reluctantly and looked away from his daughter. After receiving his hesitant approval, Cheryl turned towards Ginny again.

"I just wanted you to know that I'm not a Masked One. It must seem suspicious after the masked boy's attack, but I'm not a weapon. I'm just... ill. Ill from one of the worst magical sicknesses."

"What are you ill from?" Ginny asked. Her fear of the other girl was starting to disappear.

"It is called the Manchester syndrome. It's hereditary, but it can jump generations- dad doesn't have it. The ill person will develop an Obscurus even if they don't suppress their magic."

"But I've seen you do magic! Wouldn't the Obscurus stop you from doing that?" Harry said.

"It would, if it was naturally developed. Mine is inherited. Healers have told me that it learnt to coexist with me because we grew together. Still, this doesn't allow me to control it. If I only could!"

"Don't the healers know more? Can't they heal you?" Ginny asked. Cheryl shook her head and let out a small sigh.

"They can't treat it. It's a rare disease and it hasn't been studied enough yet. Most of what they know about it is how it came to be. They think the illness originates from a few late 15th century natural Obscurials who were strong enough to reach maturity and passed the Obscurus on to their children. It then lay dormant in the bloodline for about twenty-five generations before resurfacing in some of their descendants."

"Why isn't it more common? Because of witch trials, there should have been many Obscuri at that time." Ron pointed out.

"You're right. There were many. However, their Obscuri limited their lifespan. Most of them died when they were children. Some stronger ones reached puberty. Only the strongest ones like Maladina Gloomweather could reach adulthood."

Realisation struck Ginny like the Whomping Willow. If what Cheryl was saying was true, then that meant... the Weasley couldn't bare thinking about it. She tried to say something, but a lump the size of a walnut was stuck in her throat. The Gryffindor Chaser both wanted to ask and was afraid of receiving the answer. In the end, Ginny remained silent, trying to push the thought away.

"It isn't the same with the syndrome. The generations water it down. I think... I maybe have fifteen more years. Hopefully." Cheryl said, her trembling voice just short of a whisper.

The room went silent. The lump in Ginny's throat felt permanently lodged there now. Every face in the room was a portrait of shock and sorrow, except the French girl's. She instead bore a slight smile born not of happiness but of acceptance.

"Can't... can't the healers do something?" Ron stuttered, hoping to receive a different answer to the one his sister had gotten.

"Maybe if you go to St. Mungo's..."

"They'll collar her." a sombre Ortington interrupted him. The reply sounded ridiculous to Ginny, but to her surprise, Cheryl nodded.

"It's the only way they can deal with the Obscurus. I wasn't entirely honest with you before. Healers have found a way to treat the syndrome. They put an enchanted collar around your neck. It destroys the Obscurus... along with your magic. This doesn't come without a price, however. People subjected to the procedure rarely live longer than five years afterwards. This is why I 'm hiding. Back at home, I just ran out into the forest when the Obscurus requested its monthly outbreak and came back when I reformed. Here, I hoped I could use the dungeons... but I didn't time it correctly."

The deafening silence returned. Ginny could hardly believe what she had just heard. She knew a few of the healers at St. Mungo's- a chubby young intern her mum had taken her to see when she had gotten the gnome pox as a five-year old, the serious old orthopaedician who had mended her broken leg after she had fallen down the stairs a year later. She couldn't imagine either of them putting a collar around Cheryl's neck and effectively sentencing her to death. It sounded like something the Death Eaters would do, not normal people. And yet, the French girl claimed it was true.

"They aren't cruel people." Cheryl added.

"They wouldn't do it if the law didn't oblige them to after the Manchester incident."

The three Gryffindors were still too shocked by the news to notice professor Ortington shifting uncomfortably when the girl said the last two words. Professor McGonagall, however, noticed his distress and put a hand on her colleague's shoulder.

"We'll talk to Dumbledore. He can stop them. " Harry said with steel in his voice, shifting Ginny's attention to him. The French girl looked at him too, slightly surprised.

"Harry's right. He won't let them collar you." the Weasley girl supported him.

Cheryl smiled weakly.

"Thank you. Thank you for understanding."

"It's time to go now, dear. You've stayed up too long." her father said. The exchange student nodded and used his hand and the crutch to get up. Then she turned around to face the three Gryffindors again.

"I hope I will have reformed for the Arcane Arcade tommorow. See you there and bye for now."

"Bye!" Ginny said at the same time as Harry and her brother. While she watched her friend hobble back to the corridor supported by her father and professor Ortington and followed by her head of house, the Weasley girl felt her eyelids closing. The day had been taxing both physically and mentally and now the bill was due. The Gryffindor Chaser drifted into sleep right as the last tendril of Cheryl's Obscurus vanished behind the door.


	16. Lost and found

**Chapter 16: Lost and found**

The Ravenclaw common room was usually empty on Sundays early in the morning. Despite the dedication to studying the house was famous for, no student was zealous enough to sacrifice the last good sleep before the school week for an early start. No student except one. At exactly eight thirty, a girl with dirty blonde hair walked down the stairs coming from the dormitory like she did every Sunday. She paused by the statue of Rowena Ravenclaw, taking a moment to stretch and watch the sun rise from behind the mountains.

Luna liked the castle at the start of the day. Everybody was still in their beds and she had it all to herself. There were no people smirking and then turning around to tell jokes about her to their friends. Nobody was trying to stick a feather in her hair or a note on her back. Not that she minded them that much. It was hard not to get used to routine and besides, she had made a lovely dream catcher to keep the wrackspurts away with all the feathers. Nevertheless, Hogwarts felt more like home to her when nobody was around.

"Early bird gets the worm." the bronze eagle knocker hummed approvingly when Luna closed the door to the common room. The girl then headed down the tight spiral staircase connecting Ravenclaw tower and the main body of the castle. It was drowned in darkness, save for the few spots where the rays shining through the arrow slits illuminated it. A minute later, the girl left behind the dark stairs behind, finally reaching the corridor that led to the Owlery. No students were to be found in the main body of the castle either, luckily enough. The witch only met a few ghosts, making sure to greet them when they flew by.

"Good morning, Sir Nicholas."

"Good morning, miss." the ghost replied, halting in mid-air.

"It is a lovely morning, isn't it? Shame that most of your peers are missing it."

"Most of them prefer sleep, I think."

Nearly Headless Nick furrowed his eyebrows.

"Sleep is overrated. Look at me, I haven't taken a nap in a few centuries and it hasn't killed me, has it?"

Luna wondered how to tell him that his spectacular achievement was mostly due to the fact that he was already dead. However, the ghost revealed it was a joke when he laughed heartily.

"Don't worry; I'm just pulling your leg. Look, I would love to stay and chat, but I'm afraid I have an urgent matter to attend to. Peeves is at it again in the first floor bathroom. I have to fetch the Bloody Baron before that rascal makes a bouquet from the showerheads. Anyway, goodbye and enjoy your day!"

"Goodbye, Sir Nicholas."

First years and second years were fascinated with Hogwarts ghosts. They were a sight even for those who had a magical background, as they were rare and only dwelled in spacious old buildings. Nevertheless, the novelty wore off after two years. The extraordinary became ordinary when one saw it every day. Therefore, the students from the higher years ignored the ghosts most of the time.

Luna, on the other hand, enjoyed talking to them. Ghosts were polite, open-minded and eager listeners, possibly because so few of the living conversed with them regularly. The blonde girl had spent countless afternoons with the Gray Lady and the ghost had never shown any doubt in Luna's tales, in stark contrast to her housemates. Instead of trying to prove to her that snorcacks didn't exist, the Lady would just nod with interest and mention a similar magical creature she had heard about during her life or undeath. When Luna had no new story to tell, the ghost would share with her the history of Hogwarts witnessed firsthand.

The girl's dad used to share her views on her friendship with the castle apparitions. Just like her, he recognised their experience as invaluable. Before the end of the previous school year, Xenophilius even used to encourage his daughter to visit her departed friends more often, to absorb more of their knowledge. That was before professor Flitwick requested a meeting. The adults hadn't told the girl what they had spoken about, but she had deduced the subject of their conversation soon afterwards.

Ever since, her dad was less interested in the newest spells and magical creatures she discovered and more intrigued in what she did with friends. Luna knew it was wrong to lie, but she couldn't tell her father the truth. He was troubled enough as it was and hardly needed extra worries. Therefore, her letters always said that she had lunch and studied among companions. That wasn't entirely false. There were some in Ravenclaw who didn't tease or laugh at her. These students ate on her house's table and studied in the common room like she did. Their attitude towards Luna could best be described as "indifferent", but she thought that "friendly" was also an apt description if one defined the word rather loosely.

Her only actual friend was Ginny Weasley, but meetings with the redhead were few and far between, as she was in another house and also had lots of other friends that kept her busy. Luna liked Ravenclaw, but sometimes wished she had been sorted in Ginny's house so that they could spend more time together. While her dad was happy that his daughter was in his house, the girl wasn't certain if she wouldn't have been much better off with the Gryffindors.

After the meeting with Flitwick, most letters from home dissuaded Luna from meeting with ghosts, encouraging her to spend time with her peers instead. While sad to leave her friends behind, the girl still listened to her dad, knowing that he had her best interests at heart. The Ravenclaw had set a limit, allowing herself to talk with ghosts no more than once a week. She usually saved it for Sundays when she was on her way to see Daedalus.

This self-imposed limitation left her with loads of free time. While Luna tried her best to fill it up with studying, there was simply not enough study material. An hour a day still remained free on weekdays and a lot more in the weekend. The blonde girl had mentioned that in one of her letters. The reply had suggested spending more time in the common room, a great place to find more friends. Luna had heeded her dad's advice, but it had backfired. Instead of friends, she only attracted more pranksters. After a week, the Ravenclaw started finding excuses to be somewhere else. As a result, the majority of her free time was now spent gallivanting through the castle.

Her exploratory expeditions were much more interesting than anything her peers had to offer. The previous Sunday she had discovered an occamy hiding in one of the flour pots in the castle kitchen. While the house elves had been startled when it suddenly expanded to fill the entire room, they had taken a liking to the blue serpent after a bit. The cooks had been sad to see it taken by Hagrid. The girl wasn't; knowing the gamekeeper, she was certain he wouldn't send the beast away in the near future as he shared her fascination with magical creatures.

Nevertheless, Sunday's find paled before Monday's. After classes, Luna had tried out a new route back to her common room. It somehow lead her to a painting of trolls dancing ballet on the seventh floor. So close to the roof, the air was chilly and Luna had wished she had her coat. As soon as she had thought about it, a door had opened to her right, revealing a wardrobe full of various coats.

The house elves had called it the Come and Go Room, or the Room of Requirement. A room that could be anything one wanted. To the Ravenclaw, it was like discovering a new wing of the castle. Since then, her curiosity drove her to the room daily. The girl soon realised its unlimited potential. At a whim it would change from a broom closet to a vast storage where piles of forgotten objects towered over her. Luna could spend weeks in that room of hidden things alone and that was only one of the faces of the Room of Requirement. The Ravenclaw decided that the she'd visit again before breakfast. Nevertheless, the Owlery was the first on her list.

* * *

Owls of various species turned heads to look at Luna when she entered the drafty room. Some were staring grumpily, displeased that she had woken them up from their slumber. Others had just returned from their morning hunt with a catch and were friendlier. The girl had trouble finding Daedalus among the dozens of birds filling the alcoves on the wall. On the other hand, it was easy for him to spot her.

"There you are!" Luna exclaimed when a barn owl glided past her, headed for the windowsill. Once it landed, the bird turned around and greeted her with a shrill screech.

"Hello to you too, Daedalus." the girl replied while she searched her robe pockets for her owl's usual present. When she found it, Daedalus shrieked happily. He gulped it in one go and then clicked with his beak, looking at the girl quizzically. The Ravenclaw knelt next to his windowsill and gave him a second treat. He took his time with this one, leaving it on the stone and periodically biting off a small piece. His moustache and beard twitched funnily whenever he pecked. His owner was the one responsible for this odd decoration. She recalled the day he had received it quite vividly.

One of Luna's earliest memories was laughing along with her after a custom spell gone wrong had electrified her hair, giving the adult witch a curly, mad scientist hairstyle that still sparkled with miniature arcs of lightning. Despite multiple small incidents like that, Pandora Lovegood had never given up on experimenting. In fact, the first spell Luna had ever cast was one her mum had created. It allowed a wand to be used as a brush whose paint never ran out. Predictably, the Lovegoods' house suffered a major redecoration that day.

Daedalus had joined the family on the following day. Her father had come home from work in the _Prophet_ carrying a small fluffy ball that screeched like a banshee whenever it spotted something interesting. Luna didn't mind the horrifying noise. For her, it was love on first sight. She had carried the baby owl in the next room while her dad was still taking off his shoes. Just then, an amazing idea had popped up in her head. Before anybody could see, the girl had grabbed her mum's wand and drawn a curly moustache and a well-shaped beard under the chick's beak. The bird hadn't protested. Instead, it had just clicked, happy to be part of the prank.

Luna still remembered the looks of surprise on her parents' faces and the way her mum had burst out laughing a moment later, amused by the serious look the painted beard gave the chick. Her dad had remarked that it reminded him of his colleague Daedalus and so the owl had received its name. To everyone's surprise, even when Daedalus changed feathers, the ones that grew in the places Luna had painted were still black.

The girl came to visit her owl twice a week, once to send her weekly letter to her father and once to bring her bird some treats. While Daedalus was a capable hunter and hardly needed the extra food, the Ravenclaw liked to pamper him occasionally, just like her mother used to.

The owl finished its food and looked at Luna imploringly. To its chagrin, she didn't seem to be paying attention. The annoyed bird clicked with its beak three times in rapid succession and tapped its owner's arm with its foot, letting her know that a second helping would be greatly appreciated.

Tak-tak-tak and a light tap on her arm. Daedalus had used the gesture to beg for food for a long time. The owl used to do the same to Luna's mother when she was cutting meat for dinner and he wanted a sample. Most of the time she would give him a chunk and he'd screech happily. Small memories like that had the habit of sneaking up on Luna and pouncing on her when she least expected them. They opened the floodgates and released her pent up emotions. She was powerless to stop them.

The girl's vision blurred while she checked her pocket for the bird's treat. The next eyeblink sent two tears falling down. Pampering Daedalus was something Luna had done with her mum so often before that Pandora's presence was painfully palpable now. The Ravenclaw had the feeling that if she just looked left, she would find her there, smiling dreamily. Of course, no one was ever there when she looked.

She left the last treat next to her bird and stared into the wall in front of her face without seeing it. Ghosts of happy days a lifetime ago hung above her head while the young witch took a minute to gather herself. By the time Daedalus was finished, Luna had managed to close the floodgates, banishing grief and pain to the back of her head where they could be safely ignored.

The bearded owl was sad to see her go. The Ravenclaw would have gladly stayed longer too, but she couldn't if she wanted to visit the Room of Requirement before breakfast. Luckily, the Owlery was close to the left corridor of the seventh floor where the room was. Unfortunately, Luna realised she had forgotten her wand in the dormitory when she reached the troll painting. She didn't need it to enter, but she had hoped to use the Summoning Charm professor Flitwick had taught her recently to look for interesting objects in the room of hidden things. Therefore, the girl headed back to the Ravenclaw common room, hoping that everybody was still asleep.

* * *

Some of her housemates glanced at Luna oddly when she entered the common room. When she stared at them in return, they either smirked or whispered something to their friends with a conspiratory tone. The girl realised what was happening, but routine had long since abraded any irritation she used to feel. The young witch was only mildly curious which of her belongings would be missing this time.

Oddly enough, all of her shoes and robes were still in place when she returned to her room. Slightly befuddled, Luna also checked her schoolbooks. None of them were missing either. The girl then moved on to her wand. A chuckle behind her back let her know that her search was pointless. Knowing that she wouldn't get her wand back until they returned it, the Ravenclaw stopped looking and lied on her bed, deciding to wait it out.

"Have you lost something, Loony?" the fifth-year who had laughed asked.

"Oh yes, Marietta, my wand is missing."

"Well, I suppose the marlogs are behind it, right?"

"They're called nargles and they don't steal wands; they can't grip them properly. Unless you are actually talking about larmogues? They do steal wands sometimes." Luna helpfully clarified.

"Yes, that's what I meant, larmogues."

"It makes no sense for the larmogues to be in the castle, Marietta. They're aquatic."

The fifth-year grew visibly irritated at this nonchallant reply.

"Anyway, your wand is missing. Aren't you going to look for it?"

"No."

"Why not? Don't you need it?" Marietta asked, a bit desperate now. The prank had probably been her idea and now she was embarassed that it had failed.

"The things we lose always have a way of coming back to us in the end." Luna replied.

* * *

The wand did return eventually. About half an hour after breakfast had started, somebody hidden in the staircase threw it on the floor. Luna left her bed and picked it up. While she had no time left for the Room of Requirement, she was glad that they had at least returned her wand before the Arcane Arcade. The girl had been looking forward to it ever since its announcement.

Before meeting professor Ortington on the Hogwarts express, Luna hadn't been interested in experimental magic for a while. Any sense of wonder for it she used to feel as a kid had evaporated after a custom spell had killed her mum. However, the girl didn't know that her passion had not been fully extinguished. The fire had been reduced to a twinkling ember, but all that was needed for flames to rise again was a strong gust, a right mentor.

There was something reminiscent of her mother in Luna's carefree and vigorous teacher. Just like her, Ortington radiated contagious excitement when talking about his experiments and smiled very often. The spark that had lingered in the Ravenclaw had glowed brighter and brighter while the experimenter had tried to bend a cup into a plate. While the spell had ultimately failed, it had instilled enough curiosity in Luna to convince her to go to Ortington's first class. That had been the point of no return. The sense of wonder Luna had almost forgotten had returned triumphantly when she crafted her first custom spell.

Ever since, the Ravenclaw was following in her mother's footsteps. She had come up with three other spells- one during the second lecture and two more in her free time. The girl had also practiced with a charm her mother had created after Xenofilius had sent his daughter some of her old notes. With five spells under her belt, Luna felt fully prepared for the Arcane Arcade.

* * *

The Great Hall didn't empty completely after breakfast was over. Instead, about fifty students lingered, looking expectantly at the left end of the teacher's table where Ortington was seated. Noticing their attention, the teacher rose from his seat and moved to Dumbledore's podium.

"Good morning, everyone! I hope you slept well, because you'll need that energy soon enough. Do you all want to sign up for the Arcane Arcade?"

He received a wave of confirmations. Some of Luna's housemates even whistled enthusiastically.

"Wow, there's so many of you, that's the bee's knees! Good thing I booked the pitch. We'll move there in a few minutes, but first, the rules.

The Arcade will consist of a lesson followed by series of duels. During the lesson, you can group up in twos and threes to come up with one last spell for the competition. Afterwards, you will all drop your names in a hat and I will pick two without looking to determine who will be duelling. The winner will go in another hat; the loser won't go in any hat. After the first hat is empty, we'll start the second round until we empty the second hat too. Et cetera, et cetera until we reach the final duel. This is simple enough, I hope. The catch is that you can't use regular spells. I'll draw a restricting circle in which all duels will take place, and when it detects any standard spells, the caster will be stunned. Alright, that pretty much covers it. Now, let's move on to the rewards."

All students perked up.

"I thought about the reward being a traditional cup or something from Hogsmeade, but then I got a better idea. The winner and the runner up will be awarded something far more useful and lasting than a dust-gathering trophy or a gadget from Zonko's. I've created two special custom spells for the champions. The person in first place gets to choose, the one with the silver medal will have to settle for the one that's left. That's it, may the best experimenter win."

Discussions erupted on every house table, smothering the Great Hall in noise. It lasted for a few moments before Ortington interrupted it.

"Well, what are you waiting for, your O.W.L.s? Get up and let's all move to the pitch so we can begin."

* * *

While everyone divided in groups of two or three, Luna kept looking for her partner. The Hufflepuff third-year she had worked with the previous two times was nowhere to be seen. Realising she probably wouldn't show up, Luna started looking for other students who had yet to team up. Most of the groups had already formed. There was only one person still flying solo.

She moved from group to group, stopping to talk with each one for a few moments. However, somebody always shook their heads while smiling nervously, sending her off to the next group. Her short stature and brown hair helped Luna recognise her as Ravenclaw's reserve Seeker. While recognition shifted gears inside the blonde girl's head, the quidditch player moved on to the next trio, who also met her request with polite refusal. However, Luna now saw the gesture in a different light.

It was easy to interpret the students' hasty headshakes and dishonest smiles as signs of annoyance. After all, everyone had reacted the same way when Luna had tried to join their groups before Ortington's first lesson. Nevertheless, the Ravenclaw knew what irritation looked like, having seen it on dozen faces over the years. Upon paying closer attention, she noticed that students were a tad too quick to shake their heads; their smiles were a tad too wide to be born of annoyance. Additionally, they all seemed relieved to see the exchange student turn her back to them. That wasn't irritation. It was fear.

During the match, Luna had been sitting close to Hufflepuff's section of the stands. The Obscurus had been only a dozen yards away when it had lashed out at Ginny. The Ravenclaw had never been more afraid for her life than in the minutes that had followed. The creature had slashed and roared, threatening to turn the stands into sawdust at any moment. Meanwhile, Luna's housemates had descended into panic around her, pushing her and tripping over the benches in a mad scramble to get to the exit staircase first.

Nonetheless, the blonde girl also felt something else while watching the exchange student switch groups every other second, rejected before she had even finished her sentence. Looking at the exchange student was like looking in a mirror. Her dishonest and strained smile, the blank expression of her eyes while hope sunk, making way for acceptance- they were both old friends of the Ravenclaw, friends she thought nobody should have.

Luna didn't hesitate, heading for the other girl a few moments after spotting her. The two almost bumped into each other when the French Seeker turned around, ready to move on to the next group. For a moment, neither of the witches said a thing, confusion and shyness taking hold of their tongues.

"Hello."Luna broke the ice.

"Hi!"

"Are you looking for a partner?"

"Umm, yes. My friend didn't show up today. She only came to the last lecture, said she didn't feel ready enough for the Arcade. And, uh, I guess all other groups are kind of full already."

"If you want to, we can work together."

The French girl visibly brightened up upon hearing Luna's proposal.

"Thanks, I'd like that. I'm Cheryl, by the way."

"I'm Luna."

"Nice to meet you, Luna."

* * *

"So, how should we start?" Cheryl asked after the two girls had walked farther away from the rest of the groups so that they would have more space to practice.

"Do you already have an idea or maybe we can do some brainstorming together?"

Luna did have some ideas. However, she was also eager to try working together with someone for once.

"Let's think of it together."

"Alright. If we want to win, we have to make a spell that's useful in a duel. We won't score well if we create a bowtruckle-summoning spell."

"Bowtruckles can be very aggressive when placed in extreme situations, like when someone attacks their tree." Luna remarked.

Cheryl looked both befuddled and amused by this sudden piece of trivia.

"So... are you saying we should go ahead with bowtruckles?" she asked.

"Oh no, not really." the Ravenclaw replied. Her partner chuckled.

"OK, what do you suggest then?"

"Confusing them."

"Hmm, that would be a good strategy, you're right. But how will we... wait, I've got it!"

Luna looked at her expectantly.

"I just remembered this stupid prank my brother used to pull on me. He would sneak into my room and stick everything but the bed to the ceiling. After waking up I felt like I was upside down. Imagine if we had a spell that turned your world on its head. Who would be able to continue duelling like that?"

This suggestion was in line with what Luna expected of custom spells- it was wacky, but useful. Cheryl grinned when she saw the Ravenclaw nodding her head enthusiastically.

"Alright! First, the incantation..."

* * *

" _Topsyturvus!"_ the French girl said, her wand aimed at Luna. The Ravenclaw squinted against the magenta light, closing her eyes when it got too bright. When she opened them again, the ground had clouds and the grass was her sky. On the other end of the pitch, three quidditch loops descended from above like peculiar chandeliers.

Walking was a totally alien experience. Luna still felt her weight pushing her down, but her feet somehow remained glued to the grass above her. The sensations clashed in her brain, overloading it terribly. She managed a slow waddle, but when she tried to move faster, disorientation triumphed. Visibly falling upward while her body told her it was downward made her queasy.

"It worked?"

"Yes." Luna confirmed after she overcame her nausea.

"Great! _Normyturvus!"_

Getting back up was easy after the world had flipped the right way again. Nevertheless, Cheryl was still there to offer her partner a hand.

"You try now." the exchange student said after she had helped the other girl up.

However, there was no time for another test. A whistle sounded from the centre of the pitch. When the girls turned to look, they saw Ortington waving, inviting everyone back to him. He stood at the centre point of an irregular circle that shone faintly blue, hovering about a foot off the ground.

The two walked half of the way to their professor in silence. However, the blonde girl noticed that her partner wanted to say something. The exchange student bore a pensive look and frequently glanced at the Ravenclaw while they walked, as if trying to gauge a reaction.

"Luna?"

"Yes?"

"I... I just wanted to thank you for working with me. I liked it. After yesterday, not many people want to have me around. "

"I liked working with you too." Luna replied. The Seeker smiled when she heard that.

"I'm happy to hear that. Do you want to work together with me next time too?"

Luna would have liked nothing more than to say yes. Cheryl made her feel a part of a team. However, she remembered something the exchange student had mentioned earlier.

"What about your partner? Wouldn't she mind?"

The Seeker sighed.

"I wasn't honest with you, Luna. She didn't come today because of me, not because she didn't feel ready. People didn't take the news about what I am so well. Not that I blame them, but... most of my friends are gone now."

"I can be your friend."

The words had slipped through Luna's lips before she could stop them. Over the years, she had learnt not to extend offers like that. Scoffs and derision was all she ever received in reply.

"Do you really want to?" Cheryl asked with hope in her voice.

The response caught the Ravenclaw off-guard. It was only the second time that someone reacted positively to her offer of friendship.

"Yes." she uttered.

Cheryl smiled widely.

"Alright. Do you want to come with me to Hogsmeade on Halloween? I heard some people in Gryffindor talking about a fair. Does it sound fun to you?"

Luna's heart felt like it was going to leap out of her body from excitement.

"Yes, it sounds very nice." she replied.

* * *

"Alright, we're all set. Practice time is over, time to start the Arcade." professor Ortington remarked after the students had gathered around him, just outside the magical circle that he had drawn.

"Are we all here?"

"Not yet, professor." a red-haired boy in the first row replied. Luna wasn't sure if he was Fred or George Weasley.

"Who are we missing?"

"Our brother and sister and Harry too."

Professor Ortington shook his head with regret.

"I don't think they will be coming today, unfortunately. Yesterday shook them up pretty hard."

A lot of people stared at Cheryl when their teacher said that. Some gazes were outright hostile. The French girl shifted uncomfortably and avoided looking at others. She held her arms closer to her body, subconsciously making herself a smaller target. Luckily enough, the students were soon distracted.

"I wouldn't bet on that, professor." the Weasley twin said, pointing to one of the entrances to the pitch. When Luna turned to look, she saw Ginny walking towards the big group, with her brother Ronald on her right side and Harry Potter on the left. Hermione Granger rushed out to meet them. When the trio made their way to the inner part of the circle, Ortington guffawed.

"It's a welcome surprise, having you three back. Before we start though, answer me this. How did you convince Madam Pomfrey to let you go? I presume a _Confundus_ charm was involved?"

Ginny smiled mischievously.

"We may or may not have bribed her with a rare chocolate frog card."

"Fair enough, fair enough. Alright, now that we're all here, let's quickly recap the rules before we start. I gather your names in a hat. I pick two at random and those two duel. Only custom spells are allowed. If you try something else, my circle will stun you and net your opponent a win. After a few rounds, we'll have a winner and a runner-up who get to learn exclusive spells. All clear?"

"All clear." the crowd replied.

It took a minute for everyone to find a spare piece of parchment and write down their names. However, eventually Ortington had gathered all the names in Neville's hat and he could take out the first two.

"Miss Hermione Granger is our first participant."

The bushy-haired girl said something to Ginny before stepping inside the circle and drawing her wand.

"Facing her... Miss Cheryl Derriere."

"Good luck." Luna wished her friend. The French girl smiled gratefully and joined the Gryffindor inside the ring, ignoring the fearful whispers of the crowd that accompanied her entrance. After he made sure that both girls were ready to duel, Ortington swung his arm, giving an official start to the Arcane Arcade.

Granger reacted first.

" _Kazachokstra!"_

Her spell missed Cheryl's left shoulder by less than an inch, instead hitting one student from the audience. The boy immediately started moving in an odd dance, squatting and then throwing his legs forward. The second Kazachok Curse was aimed better, but it had come too late. Cheryl had swiftly jumped aside and was already striking back.

" _Trunknares!"_

This spell hit an innocent bystander as well. Poor Neville Longbottom suddenly found his nose replaced by an elephant trunk. He let out a surprised trumpet. Meanwhile, Hermione Granger was moving from side to side, making herself a more difficult target while preparing to launch her next attack. However, Cheryl quickly figured out how to counter her strategy. Aiming for the spot in the air the Gryffindor would pass through a moment later, she cast her next spell.

" _Topsyturvus!"_

The bushy-haired girl stopped dashing when the magenta light illuminated her. Instead, she looked around, befuddled. After making a few more steps, she stopped and swayed, her balance totally disrupted by the exchange student's spell. The movement that finally sent her falling was the attempt to raise her wand.

"That's a good one, Cheryl." she congratulated her opponent after several failed attempts to stand up.

"How long does it last?"

"Don't know. Do you want to find out?" the French girl replied. She then walked over to the other girl and extended a hand.

The Gryffindor chuckled.

"No, I really don't. I give up."

"We have our first winner, everyone! Miss Derriere proceeds to round two!" Ortington announced. The professor then went over to help Neville and the kazachok dancer. After consulting briefly with the two contestants, the experimenter administered the counter curses necessary and returned to the hat to select the next two duellists.

"Colin Creevey versus Harry Potter!"

"I'm sorry, Harry, but I won't go easy on you." the fourth-year warned his opponent after stepping into the ring. The boy with the scar smiled approvingly and entered too. Their teacher swung his arm.

"And you shouldn't, Colin. _Parswobbly Eructo!"_

Creevey had barely raised his wand when a green stream of ooze splashed against his face. The boy lost his balance and tumbled down. However, his enemy didn't interrupt the attack. Potter's wand remained raised until his opponent was entirely buried in jelly, save for the head. When Creevey tried to get up, he slipped and plopped down right in the middle of the pile, sending parts of it flying in all directions.

"What is this?" Colin asked, looking at the viscous green fluid dripping between his fingers.

"Parsley jelly, mate. Keep it away from your mouth. Tastes like troll buggers, trust me." Fred advised him, staring disapprovingly at Ginny. The smile his sister sent him was the definition of feigned innocence.

Meanwhile, the boy buried in ooze made several more attempts to get up, none of them successful. After his wand sank inside the blob during his fourth attempt, he gave up too and Harry Potter was the second one to proceed to the second round. Ortington helped Colin bring the wand out and cast a vanishing spell on the green slime. Now the third match could begin.

"Luna Lovegood against George Weasley."

The blonde haired girl entered the ring and drew her wand. She was determined to reach the third stage at least.

"Good luck!" Cheryl's voice sounded from behind her back. On the other end of the circle, the Weasley twins were whispering to each other. The shared laugh at the end of the conversation bode nothing good for the Ravenclaw.

"Before we start, please accept my apologies." George said after jumping inside the magical circle.

"Why?" Luna asked, more bemused than intimidated.

"You'll see." the Weasley replied. A moment later, Ortington's arm swung down. The boy was the first to raise his wand.

" _Polteri Transporta!_ And sorry once again!"

The wand puffed out a bit of green smoke. It spun fast, forming into a familiar shape and becoming transparent. By the time Luna had raised her wand, Peeves the poltergeist was floating above the Weasley, smiling ominously.

"Like we trained, Peevsie, my good fellow. Give her hell!" George said. Peeves nodded with enthusiasm bordering on ecstasy and stared at Luna with malevolent glee.

"It's time for Loony to go swoony!" the poltergeist exclaimed happily before creating a pie out of thin air and hurling it at the girl. However, his gloat had given her enough time to dodge. Peeves wasn't too disappointed. He just snapped his fingers and a new pie flew at the Ravenclaw. She evaded again. For a brief period, the fight devolved into Luna running around while Peeves chased her and hurled more and more pies. The circle looked less and less like duelling grounds and more like the Great Hall in the aftermath of an exorbitant feast.

Luna managed to notice something important despite the poltergeist constantly chasing her. George Weasley hadn't moved an inch since casting his spell, content to just stand still and behold the spectacle. He was convinced that he had beaten her already. While Peeves kept throwing more and more pies, a plan formed in Luna's head, a plan that would exploit the Weasley's overconfidence and secure victory.

"Run all you want, Loony, but eventually you'll get your just desserts." Peeves threatened. He could barely restrain his laughter. After the third lap, however, he accompanied his cackle not with a snap of his fingers but with a clap. The pie that materialised and was subsequently shot at Luna was a monstrosity. Its diameter put some of the thickest trees in the Forbidden forest to shame. When it splattered a few feet behind Luna, the blueberry jam inside painted about a quarter of the audience purple.

The Ravenclaw recognised an opportunity when she saw one. The girl ran past her opponent, knowing that Peeves would soon follow. However, when she reached the Weasley, she stopped and turned around, much to his surprise. Peeves was flying straight at her, grinning from ear to ear. Right when he swung his arms to clap, Luna raised her wand.

" _Venti!"_

The gust of wind her spell produced was not strong enough to blow Peeves off the pitch. It was, however, sufficient to place him right behind George Weasley. Luna jumped to the side when she heard the clap. The boy didn't react so quickly, not having seen where Luna's spell positioned his ally. When comprehension dawned on his face, it was too late. The monstrous pie was a few inches away from his back.

The impact sent the Weasley flying across the ring boundary and into the audience. The jam painted another quarter of the crowd purple.

"Blrp!" George called for help from within his pie crust tomb. His twin brother rushed to his aid. Meanwhile, Ortington zapped Peeves with a spell that turned the poltergeist's multi-coloured attire into official dress robes, much to the amusement of all students.

"Oh come on, Ortie! It's just innocent fun." the ghost protested.

"Back to the castle with you, Peeves."

Cussing under his breath, the poltergeist headed back to Hogwarts and away from the laughter of the students. Now that Peeves was dealt with, Ortington turned his attention to the contestants.

"Our third battle has also yielded a winner, and what a battle it was! Mr. Weasley?"

"Yes?" George asked right after emerging from the giant pie. His voice was still muffled a bit from the jam covering him from head to toe.

"I have to say I'm very impressed. Not many wizards can create spells that work on departed spirits, much less poltergeists. Though in your case, I'm sure Peeves was quite willing to cooperate."

Ortington then performed one of his favourite sudden turns, sending his braid flying in a wide arc. Now the experimenter was facing Luna.

"Miss Lovegood, you continue to amaze me. Many people can use a complicated spell for something simple. Few can use a simple spell for something complicated like you did. I can hardly wait for your next match."

Luna blushed at the praise and turned around, heading for the audience where Cheryl waited to cheer together with her friend.

* * *

The first round didn't last too long. The second round, however, dragged for quite a bit. Most of the students only knew one custom spell good for duels and their strategy was now predictable for their opponents. Most of the battles lasted at least three minutes and in the end luck was the deciding factor rather than skill. While the number of participants halved and then halved again, it became easy for Luna to spot the serious competitors who knew enough custom spells to stay unpredictable. Besides her, there were five: Cheryl, Ginny, her brothers Ronald and Fred and finally Harry Potter. Therefore, it was hardly a surprise to the blonde haired girl when the six of them also turned out to be the only participants left at the start of the fourth round.

"Ginny Weasley versus Fred Weasley." Ortington announced.

"Well, sis, good job making it so far. Sixth place is still quite nice." the twin taunted his opponent after stepping inside the circle.

"Oh, I don't plan on stopping at six." Ginny remarked just when the professor swung his arm down.

"Sorry to disappoint you, Gin. _Tenebre Austeri!_ "

The Weasley boy's wand coughed out a black puff of smoke. Ginny chortled, but before she had a chance to taunt her brother, the puff expanded with the speed of a Firebolt, engulfing the entire ring in impenetrable darkness. Luna could see nothing beyond the shiny blue circle, save for a cloud of black dust.

"Do you like it, sis?" Fred's voice asked from somewhere within the smoke.

"George and I stumbled upon something really interesting a few weeks ago. It's called Peruvian instant darkness powder. Cost us an arm and a leg, but it was bloody worth it. By the time Filch got out, we were halfway to the common room already. We wanted to resupply, but Zonko's said they wouldn't get a new shipment until the spring. So I thought hey, why not just make it ourselves?"

"Devonian instant darkness powder, five sickles an ounce, only from Weasley Wizard Wheezes!" George added, adressing the crowd. Judging by the expressions of students around him, Luna deduced that the twins would be getting quite a lot of orders.

"For you, sis, only three. You are helping with the live demo, after all."

"I'm flattered by your show of affection." Ginny replied ironically.

"However, I'm afraid I have to cut the demo short. _Stupefy Shineo!_ "

Light flashed within the darkness, reminiscent of lightning in a storm cloud. For a few moments, silence reigned. Neither Fred nor Ginny were casting any more spells or exchanging quips and the audience sat still and awaited the outcome of the duel. However, when after a few seconds not a single word had been uttered, George broke the silence.

"Gin? Fred? You two alright in there?"

He only received his reply when the Devonian darkness powder cleared, revealing two unconscious bodies lying on the lawn. Blinking with confusion, Ortington stepped inside the circle and cast the reviving charm on each of them in turn.

"Alright, I'd appreciate if you two explain what happened. I haven't a single clue." he said.

"My spell is a Stunner attached to a flash of light. It's supposed to stun anybody who is close enough to see it." Ginny told him.

"The instant darkness powder doesn't let any light through. However, its shiny particles will reflect any light coming from within the cloud." Fred explained.

"Oh, it makes sense then!" their professor replied.

"Ms. Weasley, your spell was meant to hit your brother. However, the light instead met the powder particles and was then reflected multiple times in all directions. This reflected light stunned both you and him. Hmm, I'm sorry, but I think this counts as a loss for both of you, as you were both defeated by the other's spell."

Fred and Ginny were more amused about what had happened than angry that both of them had lost. They didn't argue with their teacher and quickly vacated the ring for the next match.

"Ronald Weasley will face Cheryl Derriere."

The duo didn't waste time on pleasantries. Both their wands rose at exactly the same time, mere moments after the experimenter had given the start signal.

" _Avis Ardea!"_

 _"_ _Pugnus Decorpori!"_

Luna was familiar with the _Avis_ charm. While professor Flitwick had still not taught it to the fourth years, she knew that the spell created a small flock of cheerful songbirds which were then launched at the target. The suffix Ginny's brother had added, however, was new to her.

The gray heron that shot forward didn't seem very cheerful. It squawked grumpily and glared at Cheryl with its yellow eyes. Its bayonet- shaped beak looked dangerously sharp. Luckily enough, the French girl had a defender- a giant, incorporeal fist was heading straight for the large bird, its knuckles cracking menacingly. When the fist was hardly a yard away, however, the heron suddenly rolled, letting it pass a few inches away. This unexpected manoeuvre surprised both of the competitors, as became evident from Ron's furrowed eyebrows and Cheryl's widened eyes.

It was impossible to say who left the ring first. Was it Cheryl when she jumped away from the heron's sharp beak or the Weasley who was sent flying into his twin brothers by an ethereal punch? Ortington asked around, looking for somebody who had noticed the first to lose. However, none of the students in the audience had seen one of the competitors leave first. Many had been distracted by the angry heron before it had squawked victoriously and flown off to the Black Lake. Therefore, the experimenter had no choice but to call the match a draw. This, Luna suddenly realised, only left her and one other still in the Arcade.

"Alright, this is the moment we have all been waiting for!" the professor said.

"The grand finale of the Arcane Arcade is here! Potter versus Lovegood!"

The Ravenclaw carefully studied the boy with the scar while they both stepped into the magical circle one last time. She tried to recall the spells he had used in his previous duels. From what she could remember, the parsley jelly spell was the best in his arsenal. Luna started thinking of ways to counter it before Ortington had even raised his hand.

While it swung down, however, a new idea sparked inside her head. Ginny and Harry had worked together during both of the previous custom magic lessons. As they were seeing each other, it was fair to assume that they had worked together outside of the lessons too. If that was true, then they shared a common arsenal of custom spells, one that included Ginny's spell, _Stupefy Shineo_ , which was more effective than the jelly stream.

" _Expedimenta!"_ the Gryffindor said, pointing his wand at himself. Just as Luna expected, his movements became quicker and more abrupt. Harry Potter had already used the accelerating spell to defeat Seamus Finnigan and the Ravenclaw knew what to expect- quick jumps and faster casting.

" _Parswobbly Eructo!"_ a falsetto voice exclaimed. Luna couldn't help but chuckle. It was quite funny that her opponent's spell also sped up his words and increased their pitch. However, the slime stream that shot towards her was anything but funny. The acceleration charm had sped it up too and now it looked more like geyser exhaust fumes than jelly. Luna had anticipated this move and was already halfway through casting her own spell.

" _Scutum Botanicum."_

Thick vines emerged from the ground, twisting together into an impenetrable curtain about six feet high in front of the girl. The green stream that splashed against it caused it to bend, but not yield. Luna turned around and cast the spell again, just in time to stop another stream. Under the effects of his charm, the Gryffindor was fast, but now that the Ravenclaw had deciphered his plan, this advantage was of little use. The boy attempted an attack again and again, but Luna raised the vine shield every time, until she was surrounded by them almost entirely. Only one gap remained between the first barrier she had raised and the last one. A gap that the girl had left there intentionally.

She wasn't surprised when she turned around and saw Harry already looking at her through the gap. She raised her wand and prepared for the most risky part of her plan. There were two ways her plan could go wrong. Firstly, she was about to attempt casting a spell she had literally thought about at the beginning of the match and had spent no time developing. While it was true that it was closely related to her other _Scutum_ spell and she only needed to change the vines into glass, her chances of success were still slim. Secondly, she had based her entire strategy on the assumption that her opponent would use Ginny's spell. If he went with the jelly spell again, her plan would become useless and she would find herself trapped between the barriers.

It was not a good plan by any means. However, it was an interesting one at least. Luna was curious to see if it would actually work.

" _Scutum Speculum!"_

 _"_ _Stupefy Shineo!"_ replied the falsetto.

The Ravenclaw didn't see the stunning light. She only saw herself reflected in the mirror that had just burst from the ground.

" _Rennervate!"_ Ortington's voice sounded from the outside.

"Aaand we have a winner! Ms. Lovegood, please come out now. _Evanesco!"_

Luna stepped out through the gap left by the mirror that had just vanished. She wasn't surprised by the spectators' disappointed looks and the lack of cheers. She was certain they had expected Harry to win or maybe one of the Weasleys, or someone else, anyone but her. Now they felt cheated, as if the entire Arcane Arcade was one big joke somebody had pulled on them. Some of them were confused, apparently expecting the boy with the scar to still win somehow. In short, a brief look at everyone told Luna that Cheryl, Hermione Granger and the Weasleys were the only ones happy to see her win.

Unlike her, Harry Potter was puzzled by the lack of celebrations. He looked around in confusion, probably expecting them to start at any moment. Knowing that they would never come, Luna tried her best to explain.

"They won't start cheering, Harry. They aren't happy."

"What? Why?"

"I won. It makes no sense to them that I'm good at something."

Noticing that Harry's befuddlement abated only to be replaced by concern, Luna tried to calm him down.

"Don't worry about it. I'm used to this."

Her response had the opposite effect to the one she desired. The look of concern on the boy's face shifted first to pity, then to anger.

"No one should be used to this." he told her as he grabbed her hand and raised it above his head along with his, a defiant proclamation of her victory. Besides increasing the intensity of the cheers coming from the Weasleys, Cheryl and Hermione, the gesture had no effect on the crowd.

"What a game! I hope you all had fun." Ortington swooped in to save the two, noticing the awkwardness of the situation.

"Now it's time for the champions to get their rewards. Ms. Lovegood, Mr. Potter, please follow me to the eastern rings. Ms. Derriere, wait for me at the pitch entrance. To the rest of you, I hope we see each other again soon. For now- cheerio!"

* * *

"Luna, you're the winner, so make your choice: which spell would you rather learn, the Squirrel Tail Curse or the Owl Sight charm?"

"I've always wondered how far owls could see."

"Alright then. Harry, go a bit farther away so that you can't hear us. You'll come back later..."

"I have nothing against Harry learning the spell too." Luna objected.

Ortington looked both surprised and pleased.

"Happy to hear that, but doesn't that mean that he will learn more spells than you?"

"I have nothing against Luna learning my spell either." Harry replied.

"OK, come closer, Mr. Potter. You have to be very careful with the grip for the Owl Sight spell. No, index finger slightly more relaxed... that's it, you've both got it. Now be careful where you point it. Poppy will kill me if you end up in the hospital wing with beaks for noses. Are you sure it's pointing at your left eye? OK, then repeat after me: _Strix Visum._ "

 _"_ _Strix Visum."_

The colours of Luna's surroundings faded out to bland versions of themselves. The world was almost greyscale and the light of the Sun was blinding. Luna winced and felt her pupils contract. The brightness of the light reduced until it was bearable. Now the Ravenclaw could appreciate the amazing wealth of details that had appeared in her surroundings. Ortington's robes had thin gray lines running through the black of his robes that she had never spotted before. Harry's glasses had miniature cracks near the frames, indicating that they had been repaired several times. The incredible zoom of her new eyes even enabled Luna to see dew droplets on the blades of grass all the way back at the centre of the pitch. After about a minute, the details faded out and colours faded back in.

"Amazing."

"It's great, right?" Ortington smiled when he saw their awed expressions.

"I'm working on a bat hearing spell currently, I can teach you that too when I'm done. Now, on to the squirrel tail..."

"Professor, I was wondering something." Harry interrupted.

"Yes, Mr. Potter?"

"Instead of the Squirrel Tail curse, can you teach us another of your custom spells?"

The teacher hesitated for a moment, but eventually he nodded.

"Sure. Which one do you have in mind?"

"That spell you used to transform the Obscurus back into Cheryl yesterday. If Le Ombre attacks again, it would be very useful to know it."

Ortington's smile faltered.

"Oh, that spell. I should have known, I suppose. Are you sure you don't want to learn another spell? This one is quite hard and not really all that fun."

Harry shook his head. The experimenter sighed heavily and turned their back to them.

"What is it, professor?" Luna asked, having noticed the wizard's discomfort.

"I don't like that spell. I recognise its usefulness, but it brings up memories I would rather bury." Ortington replied, turning to face them again. Noticing the curious looks on his students' faces, he sighed again and continued.

"It's the first custom spell I ever knew. My father taught it to me. I used to like using it. It was a spell that he had learnt from his father, and my grandfather had learnt it from my great-grandfather and so on all the way down to my ancient ancestors. I always thought of it like our own, private spell."

"Is this why you don't want to teach it to us, professor?"

"Not really, Mr. Potter. A spell is just a spell, the more people that know it, the better. No, I don't like that spell because it reminds me of what happened in Manchester."

Luna was puzzled by Harry's reaction. The boy had nearly gaped. However, Ortington befuddled her even more, as he seemed to expect that reaction, sighing and slowly shaking his head when he saw it.

"Ah, I see you've heard about the Manchester incident already."

"Not really, sir. I've just heard it being mentioned."

"And it got you curious, right? No need to apologise, curiosity is a great thing. I guess I have to tell you the story myself. You won't hear it from anyone else; other teachers who know it will keep quiet for my sake. Especially with what's happening right now.

Anyway, it happened during the summer twenty years ago. I was fifteen at the time. Mum had convinced dad to visit some of her muggle relatives in Manchester. Make no mistake, my father had nothing against muggles; it was just that my mum's relatives were quite curious about magic and would pester me and him with questions about the wizarding world. It was endearing the first few times and really annoying afterwards. I remember that day in details. Grandpa kept asking me how the Summoning Charm worked exactly. He was an engineer just like mum and he wanted to analyze it down to my pinkie's position on the wand. I was irritated at him back then. How silly of me. Those were the last moments I got together with him.

My father's wizarding lineage traces back all the way to medieval times. His oldest known ancestor is Maladina Gloomweather, the terror of Cornwall. She is to this day still one of the most powerful Obscurials known to wizardkind. Her power enabled her to survive to maturity and unwittingly pass her curse down the generations. Gloomweather blood contains a hidden horror that lay dormant for centuries until finally resurfacing in dad.

He was good at timing the outbursts. He had them narrowed down to the hour of the day and always updated his calendar. The spell he taught me was only meant to be used in emergencies. The outburst was supposed to happen on the next day, when we were already on our way back home. Instead, it happened while we were having tea, right when grandma was bringing the lemon cake.

Turning him back was my responsibility. He had always told me that he couldn't cast the spell while in his obscurial form, that it's up to me in those situations. It was up to me in Manchester too, but I failed. The grip was right. The incantation was right, the will was there- all the elements were in place. And yet I couldn't cast the spell. I tried three times. Mum grabbed me and dragged me in the cupboard under the stairs. We stayed there for five minutes. Each seemed like an hour. We could hear what used to be dad outside, screaming like a steam engine while it destroyed the house. I was scared when it was loud, but terrified when it was silent, because I couldn't hear grandpa or grandma or any of my cousins."

Ortington paused briefly, brushing his eyes with the sleeve of his robe.

"It left through the window eventually and we went out. I don't remember anything I saw inside the house. I just remember going outside and seeing the cloud saw a house in half, just like that. Mum wanted us to run, but all I could do was stand and watch. All of it was my doing. My fault.

By the time the Aurors arrived, dad was too far gone to return; the Obscurus was all that remained. The Aurors had no choice but to destroy it. Sixty muggles died that day and the Ministry had to wipe the memories of pretty much the entire Manchester. If you ask any of the locals what happened on the seventh of August, 1975, they'll probably tell you there was a gas explosion.

This is the Manchester incident. They named the disease after it when they discovered it. So much death and destruction, and because of what? One single custom spell not casting properly. To this day I'm still not sure if it was because of me or the spell itself.

This is why I don't want to teach it to you, Harry. Custom spells are wonderful and allow you to make full use of your imagination, but sometimes things go wrong, terribly wrong. I don't want you to bet so much on it as I did. Stick with _Pom Pom_. It's nice and simple."

The professor turned around again, obviously wanting to hide his emotions from his students. Knowing that the experimenter was in no mood to continue the lesson after the story he had just shared, Luna silently patted Harry on the shoulder and beckoned towards the exit to the pitch. He nodded and led the way.

Silence reigned over them during most of their trip to the exit. The Ravenclaw was still shocked. How could professor Ortington, the cheerful, careless teacher who listened to rock bands be the same person who had gone through this? Luna had only one explanation. The childlike adult was just a mask he put on for the rest of the world. Underneath lay someone else entirely. Just like the blonde girl and her mask that smiled dreamily.

"You played well today." Harry broke the silence. The Ravenclaw could feel that he was still thinking about the story too. His effort to distract her from it was just as much an effort to distract himself from it. Still, Luna was glad that there was another topic to discuss.

"You too. I liked that _Expedimenta_ spell. Very inventive."

"I can show it to you, if you'd like. I was planning to gather some friends and practice custom spells together."

The shock's hold over Luna weakened when she realised what Harry was offering.

"Are we friends, Harry Potter?" she asked, wanting to make sure that she had heard the scarred boy correctly.

The Gryffindor gave her a confused look.

"Well, yes. If you want to."

The shock was not forgotten, but it didn't control her anymore. Luna smiled as she realised she had just made two new friends in the same day.

"We are having some trouble figuring out where to host this gathering though. We'll need a lot of space and damage-resistant surroundings. No room in the castle or Hogsmeade really fits."

"I might just know a perfect place." Luna replied, thinking about a certain room on the seventh floor of Hogwarts opposite the ballet trolls painting.

* * *

 **A.N.:** Hey everyone, I'd really appreciate you sharing your opinions about this chapter in a review. I know it was quite long and very sad at times, sorry about that :(. However, I need your feedback on my Luna portrayal. This is one of my favourite HP characters and I want to build a canon-compliant Luna that is nevertheless a bit more sophistlicated than the original version. If you liked it, I'll be writing more chapters from her PoV in the future. If you would rather her being the side character she was in the books, I'll only use her PoV when absolutely necessary. Anyway, I promise the next chapter will be shorter and more cheerful. AS you've probably guessed, it will also feature the creation of the DA.


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